Dados do Trabalho

Title

EVALUATING RELIGIOSITY IN AUTOIMMUNE RHEUMATIC DISEASES

Background

The old cultures used to attribute healthy and sickness to the
power of Gods, so rituals and prayers were made with the aim to get the cure
for diseases. Still on the actual context, religion is a source of refuge to the
people that has some complaint, and their attitudes and values are frequently
influenced by what is sacred. Rheumatic autoimmune diseases like Systemic
Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Polymyositis
resulting from some disturb on the immune system bring on some damages in
multiple organs and reduce their life quality. The Religion can work in these
patients by being a vanishing point and a shelter to fight their disease.

Materials and methods

Transversal quantitative study realized at a public
hospital’s ambulatory of Collagenous. It was made an interview with its own
questionnaire approaching the religiosity and the evolution of the sickness.
The study was approved by the ethics committee, the TCLE was answered by
the participants.

Results

A total of 51 patients were interviewed, in an age
group between 18 and 89, with 80% of the group composed of women. Sixty
three percent of them had the RA diagnosis, 27% had Polymyositis and 10%
had SLE. Almost one third of the patients had at least one episode of
hospitalization, with variation on the time of hospitalization happening in the
gap of 1 week to 6 months. Ninety eight percent embraced a religion,
contemplating the total of 31 Catholics, 17 evangelicals and 2 Jehovah's
Witness. One patient considered himself as atheist. Eighty percent never
changed their religion, and 60% affirmed that had greater attachment after the
diagnosis. Four patients (8%) declared that they believe that their disease
was a punishment for some occurred fact. Also, 80% declared that they daily
look for their religions and twenty percent only look for their religions when
they are in some difficulty. Seventy six percent believe that can cure
themselves by means of religion and 53% get attached to the religious
resources, like promises and prayers, with the objective to reach get better on
the treatment. Ninety percent realize prayers every day. Between the patients
of the masculine sex, the most (64%) related that didn’t hold so much to the
religion.

Conclusions

The religiosity proved to be an influent support to the
patients who have autoimmune rheumatoid diseases, being commonly used
as an emotional and behavioral appeal to fight these pathologies.