ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of mastery and depression in chronic arthritis patients. METHOD: The subjects for this study were 100 patients registered in S University Hospital, and the period of data collection was from June 20, 2006 to August 30, 2006. RESULTS: The cronbach's alpha of the research instruments were .70-.86. In data analysis, SPSSWIN 12.0 program was used for descriptive statistics. The results were as follows. 1) The range of total mastery scores was from 11 to 28 and the mean score of the depression in chronic arthritis patients was 17.88. 2) The range of total depression scores was from 20 to 72 and the mean score of the depression in chronic arthritis patients was 39.99. 3) The level of mastery was significant correlation with the level of depression in chronic arthritis patients(r=-.466, p<.01). CONCLUSION: Mastery had significant correlation with depression in patients who have chronic arthritis. Therefore, the strategy of nursing intervention which improve mastery must be developed for patients who have chronic arthritis.