Katarzyna Bazarnik
Andrzej Kwolek
Julian Skrzypiec
Z Pracowni Zdrowia Publicznego Instytutu Fizjoterapii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego
Institute of Physiotherapy of University of Rzeszów, Poland
Institute of Physiotherapy, Department of Medicine, University of Rzeszow, Poland

Abstract

The aim of the paper is analysis of the influence of the hospital rehabilitation on the patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in particular, on such aspects as: the scope of movement, the level of pain, the intensification of illness and the level of disability. ‘The material and the method: the research group included 27 women (77,1%) and 8 men (22.8%). The patients were aged from 35 to 82.

‘The scope of the research included: the measurements of the scope of active movements of joints by ‘means of goniometrical method, the evaluation of the intensity of pain (VAS scale), intensification of illness (Likert’s scale) and the level of disability (HAQ questionnaire). The research was performed twice, before and after the rehabilitation. The results were analysed with the use of Statistica 6.0 PL programme.

Conclusion: the results of the research prove that in case of all the joints which were examined, both in upper and lower limb, there was the improvement of mobility. The pain suffered by the patients and the intensity of illness decreased. The patients have also noticed the improvement in performing their everyday activities. The results obtained after the three- week-rehabilitation show that the rehabilitation is an important part of the complex treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited