Perceived levels of stress, emotions and physical activity in outpatients with diffuse connective tissue diseases

Abstract

Background: Diffuse connective tissue diseases (DCTD) are autoimmune diseases that can cause comorbidities, influencing physical and psychological aspects and increase stress. The latter may also be related to the practice of physical activity (PPA). Although evidence shows that it can contribute to patients' health, the level of PPA can decrease after the diagnosis. The aim was to evaluate the basic emotions, perceived stress (PS) and PPA levels of patients with DCTD.

Methods: This is a field study with a random approach of 55 participants. We used a clinical and sociodemographic profile form for the verification of emotions, a picture with emojis of the basic emotions, the PSS-14 and the IPAQ-Brief. Data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests with 5% of significance.

Results: The average age was 49.1±12.9, mostly female (58.7%). High PS was reported by 54.5%; emotions such as joy (38.2%) and anxiety/fear (25.5%), as well as sadness (7.3%), were reported. About 87.3% were classified as having insufficient levels of PPA. Female patients (U=137.0; P<0.05) and insufficient PPA levels (U=86.5%; P<0.05) had higher PS scores, as well as those feeling sadness (χ²=19.0; P<0.05).

Conclusions: The results point to the need for care with the emotional domain of these patients and suggest studies that analyze the impact of implementing PPA for this population.