Objective: This study investigated occupational performance, well-being (operationalized as general life satisfaction, domain-specific life satisfaction, and self-rated health), and perceived symptoms in women with limited scleroderma and healthy controls.
Methods: Interview-based and self-administered questionnaires were used with 36 women with limited scleroderma and 40 healthy women.
Results: In the scleroderma group, most of occupation problems were perceived in work and household chores. The women with scleroderma were mainly satisfied with self-care and least satisfied with household chores. Regarding domain-specific life satisfaction, the women were least satisfied with physical health and leisure. General life satisfaction showed the strongest relations to performance of self-defined occupations and satisfaction with leisure, whereas the strongest association with self-rated health was found for satisfaction with work. Fatigue was perceived as a dominant problem and was significantly associated with well-being. Furthermore, the women with scleroderma felt lower satisfaction with daily occupations and well-being than the healthy women.
Conclusion: Loss of occupations, low satisfaction with leisure, perceived fatigue, shortness of breath, and pain indicated poorer well-being in women with scleroderma and need to be focused on in occupational therapy interventions.