Rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease and physical exercise: a systematic review

Abstract

This systematic review investigates the effectiveness of exercise interventions in improving disease-related characteristics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It also provides suggestions for exercise programmes suitable for improving the cardiovascular profile of RA patients and proposes areas for future research in the field. Six databases (Medline, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Google Scholar, EMBASE and PEDro) were searched to identify publications from 1974 to December 2006 regarding RA and exercise interventions. The quality of the studies included was determined by using the Jadad scale. Initial searches identified 1342 articles from which 40 met the inclusion criteria. No studies were found investigating exercise interventions in relation to cardiovascular disease in RA. There is strong evidence suggesting that exercise from low to high intensity of various modes is effective in improving disease-related characteristics and functional ability in RA patients. Future studies are required to investigate the effects of exercise in improving the cardiovascular status of this patient population.

Efficacy of cardiorespiratory aerobic exercise in rheumatoid arthritis: Meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Fatigability with exertion and cardiovascular adverse events are important proxies for exercise tolerance, which have not yet been accurately evaluated. According to Metsios et al, these two outcome measures deserve more attention in future trials (34).…”

Exercise prescription in the management of rheumatoid arthritis

“…Previous studies on the effect of aerobic exercise on patients with RA made use of cycling, aquatics, aerobic dance or walking. [36][37][38][39] Janse van Rensburg et al found that patients with RA improved significantly in terms of flexibility, strength and aerobic capacity measured after a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention (walking or aquatics), combined with strengthening and stretching exercises. 39 Furthermore, the exercise group improved significantly more than the control group with respect to disease activity scores (DAS28).…”

Effect of exercise on cardiac autonomic function in females with rheumatoid arthritis

“…There is compelling evidence that exercise can play a significant role in the physical and psychosocial health of RA patients [2,3]. However, only a limited number of studies exist on the relation of exercise interventions to cardiovascular disease in these patients [4].…”