<p>Behavioral Conformity of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Older Couples with One Partner Suffering from End-Stage Osteoarthritis</p>

Abstract

Purpose: The present study investigates behavioral conformity regarding physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in older couples where one partner suffers from osteoarthritis (OA). Hereby the question is addressed whether and to what extent the typical physical limitations of OA patients have negative effects on their partners. Patients and Methods: The habitual PA and SB of end-stage osteoarthritis patients (n = 32, 52-81 years | n = 14 gonarthrosis, n = 18 coxarthrosis), their spouses (n = 32, 50-83 years) and control couples (n = 26 subjects, 52-78 years) were assessed by accelerometry. Besides individual results of accelerometry hourly couple-specific performance ratios were calculated for four parameters of PA (number of steps, vector magnitude (VM), metabolic rate (MET), and total time in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA)) and two parameters of SB (number of sedentary bouts and total time of sedentary bouts per hour). Analyses of covariance were used to explore differences in hourly couple-specific performance ratios between couples affected by osteoarthritis and control couples. Results: Significant differences in PA were observed between the three groups, whereby the patients showed the lowest PA and the subjects of the control group the highest PA. In contrast to this, SB did not differ between the three groups. The hourly analyses of couplespecific performance ratios revealed significant differences between the target couples (patients and spouses) and the control couples for all parameters of PA. Thereby, the deviance in PA between the patients and their spouses was always smaller than in control couples and also decreased with age. The investigation of SB, on the other hand, revealed larger deviations between the patients and their spouses as compared to control couples and no changes with age. Conclusion: This study confirmed the known negative impact of osteoarthritis on the PA and SB of elderly patients. More important, however, was the finding that the patients' spouses adapt to this poor health behavior and show reduced PA as well. Consequentially, spouses of OA patients should be considered as a risk group for inactivity-related diseases in old age. This should be considered in interventions that aim to use the individual support of spouses to increase the PA of OA patients.

Sedentary Behavior in Older Patients before and after Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…This study has some limitations. First of all, only a small group, i.e., 16 patients, conveniently taken from a larger cohort [ 23 ], was included in the study. This small number might reduce the odds of detecting true effects.…”

“…First, because it has been shown that an increase of sedentary activities in old age is associated with a loss of everyday skills, which cannot be compensated for by PA [ 42 ]. Second, because it was demonstrated that the sedentary lifestyle of OA patients is adopted by their partners [ 23 ], and thus, it could affect a much larger group of people than previously thought. The development of noncommunicable diseases and the possible loss of independence in everyday life due to excessive SB is a great challenge, not only for individuals, but also for the health care systems [ 43 ].…”

“…Data were drawn from a larger, longitudinal study investigating the behavioral alignment of PA and SB in hip and knee OA patients and their spouses. Comprehensive information on the recruitment procedure and eligibility criteria have therefore been published previously [ 23 ]. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee on and registered in a clinical trials register (German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00014292) (2017-613-f-S).…”

“…Exclusion criteria were defined as any nonorthopedic condition (e.g., rheumatic, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, neurologic, etc.) significantly limiting PA or causing increased SB in everyday life [ 23 ]. In detail, data of 16 patients suffering from OA for approx.…”

Everyday Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior After Total Joint Arthroplasty: Do Patients and Partners Develop an Active Lifestyle?

“… 20 Consequently, it is likely that the inactive lifestyle of OA patients might be adopted by their partners. Indeed, it has recently been shown that OA patient-partner dyads differ significantly from control couples in terms of PA. 21 With regard to SB, it was even found that both partners and controls were in fact at the same level as the OA patients, which could be attributed to the widespread sedentary lifestyle in today’s society. 22 , 23 …”