Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Preliminary Review of Efficacy and Methodology

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, painful, and debilitating disease which affects approximately 1% of the adult population. A great deal of literature suggests that psychological factors are important to patient outcomes in RA. This article discusses these factors and then reviews the cognitive-behavioral treatment literature for this population. Although cognitive-behavioral treatments appear to assist RA patients in managing their pain, additional findings are inconsistent and methodological limitations in the literature preclude firm conclusions. A final section of this paper presents suggestions to improve the design of future studies evaluating cognitive-behavioral treatments for these patients.