Forholdet mellom håp og smerte hos menneske med revmatoid artritt!

Abstract

Hope is an expression of motivation, and is individual in both sick and healthy. In chronically ill this difference is made visible by the many who seem to have a high morale and the others who seem to give up, experience hopelessness. The aim of this study is to investigate to which extent hope is present in people with arthritis, and if there is a relationship between self-reported hope and pain. The study is a descriptive survey. Hope is measured with Nowotny Hope Scale (NHS) and pain is measured with (one of the nine dimensions) in Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS). Results reveal that most respondents indicate a moderate degree of hope. Regarding pain many reports a lot with high intensity. There is no significant correlation between degree of hope and frequency and intensity of pain. Results indicate that pain may not directly affect degree of hope. One can speculate that hope then may be a more person dependent variable, and as such less changeable. However, a challenge to nurses is furthermore to study how to influence and support hope in chronically ill. Regarding pain results shows what a big problen this is to patients with arthritis. Implications to nurses and other health wokers is to enhance interventions aimed at reducing pain.