TY - JOUR
T1 - Maintaining good mental health in people with inflammatory arthritis
T2 - a qualitative study of patients' perspectives
AU - Abild, Signe Marie
AU - Midtgaard, Julie
AU - Nordkamp, Annika
AU - de Thurah, Annette
AU - Vestergaard, Sofie Bech
AU - Glintborg, Bente
AU - Aadahl, Mette
AU - Cromhout, Pernille Fevejle
AU - Lau, Lene
AU - Yilmaz, Connie
AU - Esbensen, Bente Appel
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - PURPOSE: It is well-documented that people with inflammatory arthritis (IA) exhibit a high prevalence of symptoms related to anxiety and depression. Less is known about what contributes to good mental health in people with IA. Therefore, this study aims to explore how some patients maintain good mental health despite living with IA.METHODS: Explorative qualitative interview study (one focus group, 12 individual interviews, n = 18) utilizing purposeful sampling. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and managed using NVivo14 and employed a reflexive thematical analysis approach.RESULTS: We identified four main themes: 1) Assisted by a positive outlook on life-how participants' inherent positivity helped them cope with arthritis; 2) Moving towards acceptance of life with arthritis-how participants embraced the reality of living with IA; 3) Counteracting letting arthritis dictate one's life how the participants structured their lives in terms of physical activity and social connections; and 4) Taking responsibility for the trajectory-how the participants were mindful of their bodies and took the initiative to explore new treatments.CONCLUSION: People living with IA maintain good mental health by engaging in structured physical activity, fostering social connections, and cultivating a positive outlook on life. These insights can inform the development of future treatment and support strategies.
AB - PURPOSE: It is well-documented that people with inflammatory arthritis (IA) exhibit a high prevalence of symptoms related to anxiety and depression. Less is known about what contributes to good mental health in people with IA. Therefore, this study aims to explore how some patients maintain good mental health despite living with IA.METHODS: Explorative qualitative interview study (one focus group, 12 individual interviews, n = 18) utilizing purposeful sampling. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and managed using NVivo14 and employed a reflexive thematical analysis approach.RESULTS: We identified four main themes: 1) Assisted by a positive outlook on life-how participants' inherent positivity helped them cope with arthritis; 2) Moving towards acceptance of life with arthritis-how participants embraced the reality of living with IA; 3) Counteracting letting arthritis dictate one's life how the participants structured their lives in terms of physical activity and social connections; and 4) Taking responsibility for the trajectory-how the participants were mindful of their bodies and took the initiative to explore new treatments.CONCLUSION: People living with IA maintain good mental health by engaging in structured physical activity, fostering social connections, and cultivating a positive outlook on life. These insights can inform the development of future treatment and support strategies.
KW - Mental health
KW - chronic illness
KW - disease management
KW - inflammatory arthritis
KW - qualitative studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208688835&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17482631.2024.2424015
DO - 10.1080/17482631.2024.2424015
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 39506913
SN - 1748-2623
VL - 19
SP - 2424015
JO - International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being
JF - International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being
IS - 1
ER -