What impact does poverty have on lupus?
Poverty has been consistently found to be a factor affecting survival. That means that poverty affects the probability of dying sooner with lupus. But there are other factors that are related to poverty, such as access to care. Researchers have not been able to sort out exactly which factors are the most important, because they all are interrelated. “But in some of the other analyses that we have performed,” says Alarcon, “we have seen that having a poor coping style with chronic illness or having poor social support may also influence the outcome of the disease.” People need to understand that the disease is going to stay with them for the rest of their lives, and that it’s going to fluctuate over time. However one thing remains the same, they need to take the medications as indicated. Unfortunately, in many cases, it’s hard for the patients to come back to the hospital or to the clinic for follow-up because of socioeconomic problems such as transportation or family problems. Alarcon
