Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease, mainly characterized by pain, inflammation, deformity, and ongoing destruction of the affected joints. RA usually generates anxiety symptoms due to the lack of predictability about ill-related pain attacks and the complications of the disease itself. Given the scarcity of Mexican studies on these problems, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of compassion mindfulness (CM) on pain perception, anxious symptomatology, and physiological reactivity to stressors of patients diagnosed with RA. Six patients from a large public hospital in Mexico City received a CM intervention consisting of two-hour weekly sessions for nine weeks. The intervention protocol comprised psycho-education and practice and homework exercises, using a pre-test/post-test design through a non-probability sampling method (convenience sampling). Results showed a statistically significant reduction in pain perception but not in anxious symptomatology. Physiological reactivity decreased only partially. The authors conclude that CM reduces pain perception in RA patients. However, a larger number of participants and follow-ups at three, six, and twelve months would benefit future studies.
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