The Effect of Cold Application in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Cold Application; Disease Activity; Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA; Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: Cold Application

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07359326

SBU-SBF-BE-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of cold application on pain, disease activity, and quality of life in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Currently, non-pharmacological interventions, such as cold therapy, are utilized less frequently than pharmacological treatments for the management of pain in inflamed joints. Cold application is anticipated to alleviate pain and consequently enhance patients' quality of life. This study seeks to improve quality of life by reducing pain in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Given its simplicity, ease of application, and low cost, this intervention may be recommended as a pain management strategy both for patients and for nurses working in clinical settings. Furthermore, the study aims to contribute to the existing literature on the subject.

Enrollment: 90 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Having been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at least 6 months ago,
• No problems with speaking, communicating, hearing, or understanding,
• Able to understand and speak Turkish,
• Experiencing pain.

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients who are in remission
• Individuals of foreign nationality
• People with psychiatric or mental illnesses
• Patients who do not consent to participate in the study or who withdraw at any stage of the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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90 participants in 2 patient groups

Cold Application Group

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will be instructed to apply cold therapy three times daily for 15 minutes each session over a period of three weeks. Patients will report their daily cold application to the researcher via text message. For those unable to provide updates via text, the researcher will follow up daily by phone to monitor adherence to the intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cold Application

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

This patient group will undergo follow-up assessment after a three-week period during which no intervention will be administered.