Effect of occupational therapy intervention in a comprehensive rehabilitation program on patients with early rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered to be a general disease of the body at the present stage of medical science development. It is based on systemic progressive disorganization of connective tissue with significant local and general autoimmune changes; there is an inflammatory destructive lesion of the joints, which causes a functional failure and leads to ankylosing spondylitis. Unsatisfactory long-term results of the RA treatment draw attention of researchers to the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis, when the reversibility of morphological changes in tissues is higher, the autoimmune process is fully formed, and there are no severe joint dysfunctions. At the same time, in approximately 70% of cases the erosive destructive changes in joints appear within the first 3-6 months of disease onset, which determines the unfavorable prognosis of early RA. Systematic occupational therapy is important for the success of rehabilitation. A number of scientific studies, as well as international/national guidelines for the management of patients with RA have noted that occupational therapy is an effective method aimed at maintaining the function, especially of the wrist joints. It is recommended to intervene in the early stages of the disease, as the occupational therapy in the rehabilitation of such patients in the long run increases the likelihood of maintaining their independence in everyday life by increasing muscle strength, reducing pain, and increasing tolerance to physical exercises. The aim of the study is to develop and evaluate the efficiency of occupational therapy intervention in a comprehensive rehabilitation program for patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. During the clinical studies which lasted 3 months the participants were divided into 2 groups by random sampling: the main group and the control one. The main group consisted of 18 people, the control - of 17 people. Before the occupational therapy intervention the main and control groups did not differ statistically in terms of the degree of vital activity, the severity of pain in the wrist joints, indicators of locomotor function of wrists (compression force) and the time of morning stiffness of the joints. After occupational therapy intervention, the studied indicators showed a positive trend in the main group compared with the control one (p