Effectiveness Study of Psychotherapy in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

This is a prospective randomized clinical trial. Patients with SLE (ACR criteria, 1997) treated at Rheumatology Division out-patient clinic of a university hospital were enrolled. A sample of 80 patients was assessed at the beginning of the study (baseline) and will be re-evaluated after 20 weeks (final) by clinical and psychological scales. Patients were randomized by computer program and divided into experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). Patients of both groups continued their medical treatment at the clinic. EG will be treated with BGPP for 20 sessions once a week for 20 consecutive weeks in small groups. The control group will be on a waiting list until the end of the study and will be treated subsequently. Inclusion criteria: * Female gender * Four or more ACR criteria for classification of SLE * Age above 18 years * Follow-up at the clinic for at least 6 months Exclusion criteria : * Illiterate patients * Mental or physical comorbidities that compromise their participation Evaluation: The following scales (adapted and validated for Portuguese Language) were being applied for a blinded evaluator to assess patients at baseline and after 20 weeks: * Systemic Lupus International Disease Activity - SLEDAI Bombardier,1992); * Systemic Symptom Checklist (SSC)(Freire, 2008); * Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Quality of Life - SLEQOL (Freire, 2008); * Coping strategies inventory of Folkman and Lazarus (Savoia,1996). * Hospital Anxiety and Depression (Botega, 1995); * Vital events scale of Holmes and Rahe (1967) (Savoia, 1995) and Comparisons inter and intra groups were being analyzed using the Q square test for categorical variables and Student's t test, Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon or ANOVA for quantitative variables. P values \<0.05 will be considered as significant.