“A Necessary Investment in Future Health”: Perceptions of Physical Activity Maintenance Among People With Rheumatoid Arthritis (original) (raw)

Physical Therapy

Abstract

Objective A few studies with a qualitative design have addressed physical activity (PA) maintenance in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but none of them focused specifically on maintenance of PA according to public health recommendations. The purpose of this study was to describe perceptions of PA maintenance during the second year of an outsourced 2-year support program among people with RA. Methods For this descriptive design with a qualitative inductive approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants with RA (3 men and 15 women). Variation in age, disease duration, activity limitation, pain, levels of PA, and PA maintenance was targeted through strategic sampling. Qualitative content analysis was used, and a pattern of theme, subthemes, and categories was constructed based on the participants’ perceptions of PA maintenance. Results A main overarching theme, “A necessary investment in future health”—with 3 subthemes of dedication, awareness, and affi...

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