The Influence of Family Support on the Activities of Daily Living & Quality of Life among the Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

류마티스 관절염 환자가 받는 가족지지 정도에 따른 일상활동과 삶의 질 차이

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in the level of ADL & QOL by family support in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The subjects of the study consisted of fifty-six outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis at a university hospital in Taegu. The instrument used in this study were the family support scale developed by Kang(1984), the ADL scale by Katz et al.(1970) and Barthel(1973), the QOL scale developed by Jo(1993). Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation, Chi-square, ANOVA with SPSS program. The major findings are as follows : 1. There was not significant differences in the level of ADL by family support in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis(F=.436, p=.649). 2. There was significant differences in the level of QOL by family support in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis(F=3.782, p=.029). This study showed that the higher level of family support contributed to the better level of QOL in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It is recommended to promote the level of family support of rheumatoid arthritis patients with low family support QOL.