Completed

Disclosure and Skills Training for Rheumatoid Arthritis

0 criteria met from your profileSee at a glance how your profile meets each eligibility criteria.
What is being tested

Coping skills training

+ Arthritis education

+ Written emotional disclosure

Behavioral
Who is being recruted

Arthritis+5

+ Arthritis, Rheumatoid

+ Autoimmune Diseases

From 18 to 80 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Phase 2
Interventional
Study Start: February 2005
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorWayne State University
Last updated: January 14, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Study start date: February 1, 2005

Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Two self-management strategies hold promise for improving the health of people with RA: ED (writing about stress, RA, and coping options) and CST (learning six pain and stress coping skills). A strategy integrating ED with CST may be more effective than either intervention alone. This study will compare the effectiveness of ED, CST, ED in combination with CST, and control groups in alleviating the symptoms of RA. This study will last until May 2009. Participants with RA will be randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups. Each participant will receive 3 writing sessions and 8 training sessions. Group 1 will receive ED writing followed by CST; Group 2 will receive ED writing followed by arthritis education; Group 3 will receive health behavior writing followed by CST; and Group 4 will receive health behavior writing followed by arthritis education. Participants will be evaluated at baseline and at Months 1, 4, and 12 for pain, physical disability, psychological impairment, and disease activity. In addition, participants will record daily diaries for 30 days regarding their pain, symptoms, coping, stress, and mood prior to each of the evaluations. Changes in health status over time will be compared among groups.

Official TitleDisclosure and Skills Training for Rheumatoid Arthritis 
NCT00088764
Principal SponsorWayne State University
Last updated: January 14, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details

280 patients to be enrolled

Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.



Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria

Any sex

Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.

From 18 to 80 Years

Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.

Healthy volunteers not allowed

If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.

Conditions

Pathology

ArthritisArthritis, RheumatoidAutoimmune DiseasesConnective Tissue DiseasesImmune System DiseasesJoint DiseasesMusculoskeletal DiseasesRheumatic Diseases

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Meet American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 criteria for RA Exclusion Criteria: * Other disorders that would significantly affect function (e.g., lupus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease \[COPD\], congestive heart failure \[CHF\], cancer) * Judged by the physician to have cognitive impairment (dementia, retardation, psychosis) or illiteracy * Has experienced recent (last 6 months) significant stressor resulting in substantial emotional instability * Currently in psychotherapy or a formal behavioral pain management program * Unable to walk. Participants who use walking aids are not excluded. * Physically unable to write

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives

2 intervention groups are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups

Group I

Experimental
Education: Either coping skills training or arthritis education interventions

Group II

Experimental
Writing: Either emotional disclosure writing or health behavior writing

Study Objectives

Primary Objectives

Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.

This study has 2 locations

Suspended

Wayne State University

Detroit, United StatesSee the location
Suspended

Duke University Medical Center

Durham, United States
Completed2 Study Centers