| dc.description.abstract | Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have noticed the change in their lives, in domains of physical health, in their independence degree, in their participation in everyday life and in their ability to work. These patients daily encounter the characteristic symptoms of damage caused by arthritis, as well as the impact of the disease on socioeconomic status, employment and life habits. The onset ofsymptoms in rheumatoid arthritis is characteristic for a life period when a person is expected to be very engaged in his/her workplace, family environment, leisure activities, as well as in developing social contacts and social participation.
The aim of this research is to evaluate characteristics of certain aspects of social participation of persons with rheumatoid arthritis, by determining the importance of participation in diverse roles and the effects of restrictions in role participation, comparing the group of rheumatoid arthritis patients with the control group from general population. The sample consisted of 28 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis and 37 subjects from the control group. The study groups did not differ in gender, age, place of residence, educational, work, family and marital status and in the level of physical activity. In order to determine the importance of participation in diverse roles and the effects of restrictions in role participation the Importance of Participation in Diverse Roles and Restrictions in Role Participation Subscales within the Modified Social Role Participation Questionnaire, (Modif.SRPQ, Gignac et al., 2011)were used. The Importance of Participation in Diverse Roles Subscale in our research had a satisfactory [Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.71), and the Restrictions in Role Participation Subscale had good internal consistency [Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.86).
The results obtained in this study show that there are no statistically significant differences in the perception of the importance of participation and the participation in diverse roles between persons with rheumatoid arthritis and the control group persons, except in the domain of offspring relationships, where the significance of these relationships is lower in persons with rheumatoid arthritis than in persons from the general population. However, the importance of restrictions in diverse role participation is statistically significantly more pronounced in the group ofrheumatoid arthritis subjects in the domains of hobbies, in community activities, social events, travel and vacations, daily contacts, but also in overall community activities. Thus, physical restrictions significantly limit the social participation of persons with rheumatoid arthritis. Regarding the association between demographic variables and the participation of persons with rheumatoid arthritis in diverse roles, the presence of restrictions associated with increased unemployment, i.e. decreased work engagement, was shown to be more frequent, while other variables were not related to the achievement of the subjects in the Importance of Participation in Diverse Roles and Restrictions in Role Participation Subscales.
The findings of this research may be of use to practitioners working directly with people with RA in the rehabilitation process. On the other hand, these findings could serve as a starting point for future studies focusing on the issue of social participation for persons with RA. | sr |
