Exercise and educational programs fail to show strength, health status benefits for rheumatoid arthritis patients

Breedland I, et al. J Am Phys Ther Assoc. Published online before print April 7, 2011. doi: 10.2522/?ptj.20090010.

Group-based exercise and educational programs offer aerobic benefits but do not improve muscle strength, health status or self-efficacy, according to investigators with the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands.

The group performed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of group-based exercise and educational programs on the physical performance and disease self-management of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis.

In all, 34 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (19) or a waiting list control group (15). Intervention for the study, according to the abstract, was an 8-week multidisciplinary group therapy program for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. It consisted of physical exercise designed to increase aerobic capacity and muscle strength in conjunction with an educational program designed to improve health status and self-efficacy in terms of disease self-management.

Outcome measures, the authors wrote, were maximum oxygen uptake, muscle strength of elbow and knee flexors and extensors, health status, and “perceived self-efficacy.” The researchers collected data on the measures before intervention, after nine weeks and again at a 22-week follow-up.

According to the results, the intervention group was found at week nine to have shown “significant improvement” (12.1%) in maximum oxygen uptake when compared with the control group, but no other between-group changes were found.

The researchers noted that within-group changes were found over time for upper and lower extremity muscle strength, as well as health status.