Case Management in Care of Turkish Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

• Published in: Rehabilitation nursing Vol. 36; no. 5; pp. 205 - 213
• Main Authors: Tokem, Yasemin, Argon, Gulumser, Keser, Gokhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2011; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - nursing; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - rehabilitation; Case management; Case Management - economics; cost; Costs; disability; Disability Evaluation; Disease; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health care expenditures; Hospitals; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Male; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; nurse case manager; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing care; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Patient satisfaction; Patient Satisfaction - statistics & numerical data; Pilot Projects; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; satisfaction; Turkey; Turkey
• ISSN: 0278-4807; 2048-7940
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2048-7940.2011.tb00197.x

This study examined the effectiveness of a case management (CM) intervention in the care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as a pilot study in a teaching hospital in Turkey. Two groups were compared with respect to disability, quality of life, cost, and patient satisfaction: RA patients who received CM plus usual nursing care and RA patients who received usual nursing care alone. All patients underwent follow‐up interviews at 3 and 6 months after being discharged from the hospital. Disability scores were significantly better in the RA group receiving CM, but there were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to quality of life, patient satisfaction, and total healthcare costs. Using CM in the care of patients with RA may favorably affect disease‐related outcomes.