Objectives: Being diagnosed with a chronic disease, such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), may adversely affect the activity of a young person. Additionally, the pain associated with the disease may cause difficulty accepting it. The aim was to assess the intensity of pain as well as the degree of activity and acceptance of the disease in young people aged 14–18 years with JIA.
Material and methods: The study group consisted of youth of both genders suffering from JIA aged 14–18 years during remission of the disease. The study included 50 people and used the following: numerical rating scale (NRS 0–10), Cantril ladder, activity scale of own authorship (grouped items of the questionnaire form subscales of: tiredness, physical activity, social and intellectual activity) and Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS). Statistical analysis included the following tests: Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon’s, χ2 test, Fisher’s, and Spearman rank correlation. The statistical significance level was set as p value below 0.05.
Results: The majority of the respondents observed currently do not feel pain or feel pain of low intensity. The young people are physically, psychologically and socially active. The majority of patients accept their illness. The patients who suffer from pain on the NRS scale within 4–7 points do not adapt to living with the disease as do patients without pain or experiencing pain of low intensity. There was a strong correlation between acceptance of the disease at the time of the study determined by the Cantril ladder and AIS.
Conclusions: 1. The pain suffered by patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) has undoubtedly a negative impact on their activity and acceptance of the disease. 2. It seems to be crucial to recognize pain as a significant determinant of acceptance of the disease.