Effects of exercise on fatigue, aerobic fitness, and disease activity measures in persons with rheumatoid arthritis (original) (raw)
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Arthritis & Rheumatism, 2007
To determine the effects of participation in a low-impact aerobic exercise program on fatigue, pain, and depression; to examine whether intervention groups compared with a control group differed on functional (grip strength and walk time) and disease activity (total joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein) measures and aerobic fitness at the end of the intervention; and to test which factors predicted exercise participation. Methods. A convenience sample of 220 adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ages 40 -70, was randomized to 1 of 3 groups: class exercise, home exercise using a videotape, and control group. Measures were obtained at baseline (T1), after 6 weeks of exercise (T2), and after 12 weeks of exercise (T3). Results. Using structural equation modeling, overall symptoms (latent variable for pain, fatigue, and depression) decreased significantly at T3 (P < 0.04) for the class exercise group compared with the control group. There were significant interaction effects of time and group for the functional measures of walk time and grip strength: the treatment groups improved more than the control group (P < 0.005). There were no significant increases in measures of disease activity. Fatigue and perceptions of benefits and barriers to exercise affected participants' amount of exercise, supporting previous research. Conclusion. This study supported the positive effects of exercise on walk time and grip strength, and demonstrated that fatigue and perceived benefits/barriers to exercise influenced exercise participation. Furthermore, overall symptoms of fatigue, pain, and depression were positively influenced in this selective group of patients with RA ages 40 -70 years.
Exercise and fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis
The Israel Medical Association journal : IMAJ, 2014
Fatigue, the enduring sensation of weakness, lack of energy, tiredness or exhaustion, is described by 40%-80% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis as their most disabling symptom with wide-ranging consequences for quality of life. Little attention has been paid to its multidimensional nature or to its reliability as a measure to evaluate progression of the disease. Low impact aerobic exercise affects the level of fatigue, and this same level of fatigue influences the exercise itself. We searched Medline, Cochrane Collaboration Register of Controlled Trials (CCRCT), Lilacs, PubMed and Scopus databases for randomized controlled trials (with appropriate description of methods, materials and results) on the assessment of fatigue and exercise. Review articles, case reports, letters to the editor and editorials were excluded. Of 121 references initially identified, 4 randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. Two studies used the MAF scale (Multidimensional Assessment of Fa...
The Effect Of Aerobic Training In Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Literature Study
Journal of Applied Health Management and Technology, 2021
To evaluate the effectiveness of aerobic training on pain in Rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Asystematic literature search was carried out using the Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane databases untilNovember 2016 and abstractly presented at a scientific meeting of rheumatology for 3 years. Randomizedcontrolled trials (RCTs) comparing resistance exercise-based therapy with interventions withoutresistance exercise for RA patients' treatment were included. Six literature studies, including 547 patients,met the study inclusion criteria. Patient characteristics and exercise did not affect the outcome. Subgroupanalysis revealed a trend toward higher effectiveness associated with high-intensity programs. There isevidence with a low risk of bias that an aerobic exercise program effectively reduces fatigue amongpatients with RA, especially in the short term. An RCT should be performed in patients with RA who areselected for fatigue to strengthen the evidence.
Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2013
Objective: To explore whether low aerobic capacity and physical activity are associated with fatigue, when controlling for age, gender, pain and depressive symptoms in persons with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: In 60 individuals fatigue (Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue scale; MAF), disease activity (Disease Activity Score-28; DAS28), pain, physical and psychological status (Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2; AIMS2), depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS), aerobic capacity and physical activity (Short Questionnaire to Assess Health-enhancing physical activity; SQUASH) were measured. Regression analysis was performed to study the variance of fatigue explained by aerobic capacity and physical activity. Results: Mean (standard deviation (SD)) age of participants was 51.8 (SD 10.4) years and 73.3% were women. Duration of disease was 10.2 (SD 0-41) years and mean disease activity score was 3.4 (SD 1.4). Mean Global Fatigue Index was 20.3 (SD 10.5). Physical function was 1.6 (SD 1.1) and psychological status 3.1 (SD 0-8) on the AIMS2. Pain score was 4.1 (SD 2.0) and median depression score was 3.2 (range 0-15). Total amount of physical activity was 176.9 (10.6-1,492.3) METhours/week and VO 2 max was 27.8 (SD 3.8) ml/kg/min. Backward multiple regression showed a statistically significant relationship with depressive symptoms only (t = 5.4, p < 0.001), which explained 33% of variance of fatigue in patients with RA. Conclusion: Depression, but not aerobic capacity or physical activity, contributed to fatigue. However, no relationship was found between aerobic capacity and fatigue.
Insights on the Role of Physical Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Drug Development Research, 2014
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are physically inactive, and trials have been undertaken to examine the effect of physical activity on pain, disease activity, functional ability and quality of life (QoL) in RA. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between physical activity and disease-activity in RA and in healthy controls. Our findings showed that fewer RA patients had a professional occupation compared with controls, but patients and controls were similar with respect to the sedentary extent of their job. Physical exercise was inversely associated with disease activity (DAS-28), stiffness visual analog scale (VAS), patient global VAS and SF-36, but not associated with Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), pain VAS, fatigue VAS, global health and the Arthritis Ipact Measurement Scale (AIMS), suggesting that pain and fatigue are important barriers to physical activity. Our findings suggest that this is more pronounced in RA patients who do not participate in regular physical activity, and so physical exercise should be recommended as part of comprehensive RA care. Drug Dev Res 75 : S54-S56, 2014.
Role of physical activity in the management and assessment of rheumatoid arthritis patients
Reumatología Clínica, 2016
Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting diarthrodial joints, in which patients tend to perform less physical activity (PA) than recommended. This review focuses on the existing evidence about the relationship of PA and RA, specifically how the former influences joint inflammation, disability, quality of life and pain in RA patients, and also how disease activity potentially impacts PA in these patients. Methods: A literature search of EMBASE and MEDLINE databases from January 2000 to January 2015. Results: The evidence indicating that PA in RA patients is safe and the benefits from regularly performing, both aerobic and resistance exercises, in these patients include improvement in: quality of life, functionality, pain and number of swollen joints. Interestingly, recent studies suggest that changes in disease activity in RA patients inversely correlate with variations in PA, as assessed by accelerometry. Conclusions: The regular monitoring of PA in RA patients might facilitate a more objective evaluation of variations in disease activity, helping physicians to make general and therapeutic recommendations that will improve both the health status and the joint functionality of these patients.
Benefits of Exercise in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Journal of Aging Research, 2011
This paper aims to highlight the importance of exercise in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to demonstrate the multitude of beneficial effects that properly designed exercise training has in this population. RA is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune disease characterised by decrements to joint health including joint pain and inflammation, fatigue, increased incidence and progression of cardiovascular disease, and accelerated loss of muscle mass, that is, “rheumatoid cachexia”. These factors contribute to functional limitation, disability, comorbidities, and reduced quality of life. Exercise training for RA patients has been shown to be efficacious in reversing cachexia and substantially improving function without exacerbating disease activity and is likely to reduce cardiovascular risk. Thus, all RA patients should be encouraged to include aerobic and resistance exercise training as part of routine care. Understanding the perceptions of RA patients and health professionals to...
[Therapeutic exercise in rheumatoid arthritis]
PubMed, 2005
Although about 80% of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are functionally independent on any given occasion [I], substantial functional disability is often observed over time in the average patient [Z]. One important goal in rehabilitation of individuals with RA is the prevention of functional decline, and therapeutic exercise is frequently used for this purpose. The target population for therapeutic exercise consists mainly of functionally independent persons with RA [3]. For these individuals, aerobic exercise seems superior to nonaerobic methods of exercise [4]. Likewise, dynamic exercise, requiring muscle work during joint motion, appears to be superior to static or isometric exercises [5]. INDICATIONS FOR THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE Although the main purpose for prescribing therapeutic exercise to individuals with RA might be the prevention of functional disability, many other factors associated with functional capacity might be indications for exercise. The factors to be discussed in this paper are categorized as physiological, cognitive and behavioral, emotional and social, and pain-related indica tors.