Improvement of Coping Abilities in SLE Patients

Martin Haupt ¹, Silke Millen ², Michaela Jänner ¹, Daniel Falagan ², Rebecca Fischer-Betz ² and Matthias Schneider ^2*

¹ Dept Psychiatry &Psychotherapy, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Germany
² Dept Rheumatology, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Germany

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schneider{at}rheumanet.org.

Accepted 3 April 2005

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate a novel specific psychological intervention aimed at improving coping in SLE patients.

Methods: 34 community-residing SLE patients were recruited for this study. Intervention was performed in groups of up to 8 patients and in two blocks over 6 months each. Eight patients were enrolled as a waiting- list group. The 18 group sessions focused on information about the disease and specific problems of SLE patients combining psychoeducative and psychotherapeutic elements. Psychological and medical evaluations were conducted at baseline and after 3, 6 and 12 months using validated instruments.

Results: The 34 SLE patients (91% female, mean age: 42 years) improved significantly over a 6-month period on most of the applied psychological measuring instruments, such as depression, anxiety and overall mental burden. The waiting-list group showed no significant changes.

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that conceptualized psychoeducational support may have a significant and sustained improvement in coping skills of SLE patients and therewith in quality of life.

Keywords: coping abilities, quality of life, systemic lupus erythematosus

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