Original Article:
Body Image of Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis
by S. Gutweniger, M. Kopp, E. Mur, V. Gunther
https:\/\/pdfs.semanticscholar.org\/ae8d\/4d223491e0e5becab29568f3a5ac5570a2a1.pdf <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026patients\nin the age group 30 – 55 years with a confirmed diagnosis of RA were included\nin the study and, since our focus included sexual problems, the participants had\nto be living in a partnership situation\u2026 Thus we had a group of 40 women who\nparticipated in the study and gave their informed consent after the objectives\nand purpose of the study had been explained to them\u2026The questionnaire consists\nof 52 items which are to be answered with \u2018true\u2019 or \u2018not true\u2019. By means of\nfactor analysis, it is possible to extract 4 factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Factor\n1: Attractiveness\/self-confidence.
\nFactor 2: Accentuation of external appearance.
\nFactor 3: Worry about possible physical deficits.
\nFactor 4: Problems regarding sexuality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After they had completed the questionnaires, patients were interviewed by the female psychologist who conducted the investigations\u2026 In addition, they were requested to draw our attention to other problems, if any, relating to body image and sexuality which, in their opinion, were not captured by the questionnaire. This interview was further used to check the questionnaires for completeness; unanswered items were explained once again and answers obtained. Thus it was possible for us to record complete data on all 40 of our patients\u2026 To assess the relationships between the subjective degree of morning stiffness and clinical parameters (functional measures, laboratory measures), the Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated\u2026 20 patients considered themselves as suffering from a low degree of morning stiffness, while 20 patients considered themselves as suffering from a high degree of morning stiffness. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of either sociodemographic or clinical parameters. There was no significant correlation between the extent of morning stiffness and different clinical measurements (Steinbrocker functional and radiographic stage, ERS, joint swelling). A comparison of the two groups (high vs. low morning stiffness) showed that worries about the body, as well as problems with regard to sexuality, were more pronounced in patients with high morning stiffness\u2026 The two groups did not differ in terms of their estimate of their own attractiveness, or in their beauty-promoting activities… She wants to be important to him, she wants him to look at her as an attractive woman, not as a crippled old person\u2026 Thus, even severely handicapped persons have some degree of satisfaction with their own bodies and enjoy activities of body care that improve their external appearance\u2026 morning stiffness plays a very important role in whether and how severely a patient feels herself to be handicapped, and this parameter does not correlate significantly with clinical parameters such as the Steinbrocker functional stage, the radiographic stage, the ESR, or joint swelling\u2026 Women with a high degree of subjective morning stiffness often have problems concerning their body image and sexuality.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This report reinforces the power of perception and highlights the area of potential around beauty and hygiene products designed for individuals with arthritis. Women who experience more perceived morning stiffness\u2014and therefore struggle more in the morning while getting ready\u2014are already more self-conscious of their body, its functionality and appearance. One should wonder whether reducing perceived morning struggles could have unintended psychological benefits to women with RA. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Original Article:Body Image of Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis by S. Gutweniger, M. Kopp, E. Mur, V. Guntherhttps:\/\/pdfs.semanticscholar.org\/ae8d\/4d223491e0e5becab29568f3a5ac5570a2a1.pdf \u201c\u2026patients in the age group 30 – 55 years with a confirmed diagnosis of RA were included in the study and, since our focus included sexual problems, the participants had to be living in a partnership situation\u2026 Thus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[133,132,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-1003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-focus-featured","7":"tag-bodyimage","8":"tag-rheumatoidarthritis","9":"tag-women"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}