Effects of exercise on fatigue, aerobic fitness, and disease activity measures in persons with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

The effects of 12 weeks of low-impact aerobic exercise on fatigue, aerobic fitness, and disease activity were examined in a quasi-experimental time series study of 25 adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Measures were obtained preintervention, midtreatment (after 6 weeks of exercise), end of treatment (after 12 weeks of exercise), and at a 15-week follow-up. ANOVAS for repeated measures showed that those subjects who participated more frequently reported decreased fatigue, while those who participated less frequently reported an increase in fatigue. All subjects, on average, showed increased aerobic fitness and increased right and left hand grip strength, decreased pain, and decreased walk time. There were no significant increases in joint count or sedimentation rate. Significant improvements in measures at the 15-week follow-up also were found. Findings indicate that persons with RA who participate in appropriate exercises may lessen fatigue levels and experience other positive effects without worsening their arthritis.

Women's experiences of sexual health when living with Rheumatoid Arthritis - an explorative qualitative study

“…Those results coincide with results of older healthy women, where physical fitness and high levels of sexual activity were related [14]. Physiotherapy interventions based on exercise therapy can also reduce fatigue [42], which then indirectly can increase sexual health according to the informants. Pain was decreased by physiotherapy, and since pain is one of the dominating factors that decrease sexual health, physiotherapy must be highlighted as an important way to improve sexual health for patients with RA.…”

“…Physiotherapy in general has changed towards becoming more of an active treatment, including coaching towards increased physical activities [40]. Increased activity levels can increase perceived health status and reduce fatigue for patients with RA [41,42], and were mentioned as giving direct positive effect on sexual health by the informants, which is also stated by Monga et al [43]. Those results coincide with results of older healthy women, where physical fitness and high levels of sexual activity were related [14].…”

A Simple Step Test to Estimate Cardio-Respiratory Fitness Levels of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients in a Clinical Setting

“…Even though cycling is not a weight-bearing activity, it may put the knee joint under a similar strain/range of movement than a walking-based test. A treadmill-based $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\mathrm{normal2}\max }$ test may have resulted in a higher $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\mathrm{normal2}\max }$ than what was obtained in this study [17]; however, our $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\mathrm{normal2}\max }$ results compare well to other studies that also used sub-maximal cycle tests to estimate RA patient fitness levels [45]. Another limitation is the modest sample size; however, it was sufficient to meet the study objectives, with suitable measures of validity and test-retest reliability being observed.…”

Biomechanical factors in osteoarthritis

“…While these effects have been assumed to be related to altered gait and increased joint stresses secondary to increased body weight [4], there is increasing evidence of the presence of systemic inflammation due to obesity [5, 6] that may interact with biomechanical factors to promote the progressive degradation of joint cartilage in other joints such as the hand [7]. The benefits of exercise in an arthritic population include not only weight loss, but also decreased systemic inflammation, increased muscle strength, flexibility, energy, a sense of well-being, better coping abilities, quality of sleep, decreased blood pressure, and fewer heart attacks [8]. …”