Arthritis and the Health of the Aged
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major objective of the study is to describe arthritis and the health of the aged in Ikot Effiong Nta, Calabar Municipal Area of Cross River State.
The specific objectives will be:
- To identify osteoarthritis and the health of the aged.
- To examine rheumatoid arthritis and the health of the aged.
- To discuss gout arthritis and the health of the aged.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
What is arthritis?
The word arthritis is used to describe pain, swelling and stiffness in a joint or joints. Arthritis isn’t a single condition and there are several different types.
Around 10 million people in the UK are thought to have arthritis. It can affect people of all ages – even children and teenagers. Some forms of arthritis are more common in older people.
If you have pain in or around a joint or joints that doesn’t go away after a few days, you should see a doctor. Finding out what’s causing your pain is key to finding the right treatment and self-help options.
Although there’s no cure for arthritis, treatments have improved greatly in recent years and, for many types of arthritis, particularly inflammatory arthritis, there’s a clear benefit in starting treatment at an early stage.
It may be difficult to say what has caused your arthritis. There are several factors that can increase the risk of each type of arthritis. It could be that the genes you inherited from your parents or grandparents made you more likely to get arthritis.
Arthritis can make life tough by causing pain and making it harder to get about. The symptoms of arthritis can vary from week to week, and even from day to day. Many types, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are long-term conditions.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The methodologies used in this research work are, in the main, doctrinal or library research in nature. The doctrinal method of the research, which is mainly theory-based, would enable this writer to consult, refer to, review, study and fill the gaps in the works of authors, contained in textbooks, journals, and the internet. The data collected through library research in which the researcher reads, writes and gathers pertinent information related to the topic of this project. After having information from relate d documents such as international legal instrument, books, scientific journals, and others regarding the main problem as the object of this research, then the researcher tries to make conclusion.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS RESULTS
The studies included had a low representation
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
Conclusions
Inconsistency was found regarding QoL but it was in general low in both groups studied. It is important to focus on these patients to better understand the factors that contribute to lower QoL and to distinguish the effects of these factors as well as to identify variables that strengthen QoL. The fact that no study focused only on those over 75, or had a satisfactory large sample, caused a major problem. Another problem was that different methods and instruments were used in the studies. This means that no firm conclusions from the different studies can be drawn. Despite this, the review pointed out important variables for further research and to be focused on in nursing care, such as age, pain, depression, functional limitation, QoL and social network/support as a moderating factor. Research as well as nursing care should especially focus on the ‘old’ and the ‘very elderly’ because increased age was related to increased pain (RA) and decreased QoL (both RA and OA) and there is a lack of research on these groups. Research should also include both men and women because differences were found in gender regarding people with RA/OA. Knowledge about this group of people is still sparse and further research is needed, focusing on older people with RA and/or OA and taking demographic changes into consideration. In spite of the sparse knowledge it seems justified to state that pain, functional limitations and their impact on QoL should be focused on in everyday care.
References
- Alarcon G.S. (1995) Epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatic Diseases Clinics of North America 21(3), 589–604.
- Altman R.D. (1990) Osteoarthritis. Differentiation from rheumatoid arthritis, causes of pain, treatment. Postgraduate Medicine 87(3), 66–78.
- Bendtsen P. & Ho¨rnquist J.O. (1992) Change and status in quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Quality of Life Research 1, 297–305.
- Blixen C.E. & Kippes C. (1999) Depression, social support and quality of life in older adults with osteoarthritis. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship 31(3), 221–226.
- Borman P. & Celiker R. (1999) A comparative analysis of quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain 7(4), 5–14.
- Bowling A. & Browne P.D. (1991) Social networks, health and emotional well-being among the oldest old in London. Journal of Gerontology: Social Science 46(1), S20–S32.
- Brattberg G., Parker M.G. & Thorslund M. (1996) The prevalence of pain among the oldest old in Sweden. Pain 67, 29–34.
- Briggs A., Scott E. & Steele K. (1999) Impact of osteoarthritis and analgesic treatment on quality of life of an elderly population. Annual Pharmacotherapy 33(11), 1154–1159.
- Chan C.L. & Villar R.N. (1996) Obesity and quality of life after primary hip arthroplasty. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume 78(1), 78–81.
- Clark J.A., Spiro A., Finke G., Miller D.R. & Kazis L.E. (1998) Symptom severity of osteoarthritis of the knee: a patient-based measure developed in the veterans health study. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Science 53(5), M351–M360.
- Creamer P., Lethbridge-Cejku M. & Hochberg M.C. (1999) Determinants of pain severity in knee osteoarthritis: effect of demographic and psychosocial variables using 3 pain measures. Journal of Rheumatology 26(8), 1785–1792.
- Creamer P., Lethbridge-Cejku M. & Hochberg M.C. (2000) Factors associated with functional impairment in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Rheumatology 39(5), 490–496.
