A survey of women in the U.K. reveals that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a severe emotional and physical impact on people living with the disease and their families. Feelings of detachment and isolation from those closest to them due to RA are especially prevalent at Christmas. The survey findings of 300 women with RA living in the U.K. suggest that 33 percent feel the disease impacts on their enjoyment of family events like Christmas, which increases to 39 percent for women with moderate RA.

The survey, sponsored by biopharmaceutical company UCB, headquartered in Brussels in Belgium, highlights that more than a quarter (26 percent) of women with RA find it always more painful to attend parties and celebrations or have stopped attending altogether; this increases to 67 percent for women with severe RA. Additionally, RA is impacting on personal relations, with more than a quarter of women believing the condition affects their closest relationships for the worse, and 61 percent feeling that friends and family do not understand their pain.

"Three quarters of UK women living with RA experience pain every day, which can be more intense during busy times of the year, such as Christmas, and this can seriously impact a patient's enjoyment of the festive season,” says Paul Emery, professor of rheumatology at the University of Leeds. “More than half of patients included in the survey are not talking to their physician about pain control options, which is imperative to enable them to take control of their pain, especially around Christmas when pain can be a considerable issue. This will ensure that more patients achieve a pain free 'good day' and ultimately improve their quality of life."

Pain is a huge issue for women living with RA in the U.K., as 76 percent of respondents report experiencing pain daily. This can be exacerbated by the dexterity needed for even the simplest of Christmas tasks, which is illuminated by the survey with 65 percent of severe RA respondents finding it difficult to write Christmas cards.

Shopping for gifts, preparing food, writing cards, and going to parties are four festive activities that women living with RA in the U.K. find most difficult to do. Among women with severe RA, more than three quarters (78 percent) experience difficulty when shopping for gifts, and 71 percent report it painful to prepare Christmas food, with more than a quarter (27 percent) of these women having stopped Christmas cooking altogether.

"So many women with RA in the U.K. have to live with the pain associated with this debilitating disease, and the survey highlights that this is particularly difficult to deal with during the Christmas period," says Ailsa Bosworth, CEO of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society. "The pain associated with RA is undertreated in the U.K. in our experience; we need to do a better job of getting people's disease under control more rapidly to enable people to enjoy more 'good days', particularly at this time of year."

In light of the 'Good Days' survey findings, UCB and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society have collaborated to develop the '12 Tips of Christmas' with information to help people with RA manage and enjoy the hectic holiday season. To view the full guide, please visit LINK**http://www.nras.org.uk/12Tips***.

The U.K. survey findings are part of a global 'Good Days' survey, which evaluated the impact of RA on 1,958 women with RA from seven countries worldwide. The survey findings suggest that women in the U.K. experience greater difficulty and pain due to their condition than women living with RA in the rest of the world. Whereas 76 percent of women in the U.K. experience pain caused by their disease on a daily basis, on average only 63 percent of women worldwide report daily pain from their RA. The global survey shows that the feelings of isolation due to RA are universal and all women with RA report that they conceal pain from family and friends, and worry about losing their independence.

Source: UCB