Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease, which is characterized by the polyarticular envolvement and pain associated at the inflammatory process. However, in my daily practice I've watched that pain goes beyond biological evidences.
This study seeks to understand the experiences that interfere with the pain in patients with RA.
It's a qualitative study using a phenomenological analysis by the method of Van Manem. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the pain felt by patients with RA is more than a biological phenomenon, results from culture, environment and the psychic structure developed over a lifetime in the process of acculturation.
It was also applied to the Scale Wagnild and Young resiliency, of 1993 (Pesce, 2005) and, contrary to what we expected, these patients have moderate or high levels of resilience.
