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Majority of inner-city patients with rheumatic diseases met physical activity guidelines
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Sixty-one percent of patients with rheumatic diseases who attended inner-city rheumatology clinics reported meeting physical activity guidelines, while most of the others were fully inactive, according to study results.
Researchers reviewed the reported physical activity (PA) levels of 508 patients (76% women) with rheumatic diseases during routine visits to an inner-city United Kingdom hospital. Diseases included rheumatoid arthritis (53%), osteoarthritis (13%), psoriatic arthritis (7%), systemic lupus erythematosus (6%), gout (5%), fibromyalgia (5%) and ankylosing spondylitis (3%). Patients completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and also answered the following:
- “Has a doctor or other [health care professional (HCP)] ever suggested PA or exercise to help your arthritis or joint symptoms?”
- “Would you like help from your doctor or health service to become more physically active?”
- “What physical activities do you enjoy?”
Two hundred ninety-one (61%) patients met revised PA guidelines (published in the United States in 2008 and the United Kingdom in 2011), while 186 patients (39%) did not. Guidelines recommend that adults participate weekly in 150 minutes or more of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes or more of vigorous-intensity PA, or the equivalent (in bouts of more than 10 minutes). Forty-eight percent of patients reported high PA levels; 13%, medium PA levels; 12%, low PA levels; and 27%, inactive. The most common weekly activities were walking (65%), swimming (32%) and gardening (28%).
Forty-three percent of patients reported ever receiving PA advice from a doctor or HCP, while 48% said they never discussed PA with an HCP. Fifty percent of patients reported they would like help from a HCP to become more physically active, 35% would not like help and 15% did not know.
“Physical activity advice would be welcomed by many inner-city adults with rheumatic diseases and should be routinely included in disease management, as even minimal PA, insufficient to meet PA guidelines, confers disease and health benefits to those who are entirely inactive,” the researchers concluded. “Walking may provide an accessible, inexpensive and acceptable form of PA among inner-city populations.”
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