This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Physical activity low among older adults with, without knee OA
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Older patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis had similarly low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity as their peers who did not have knee pain or osteoarthritis, according to findings published in Arthritis Care and Research.
“We wanted to examine exactly how much less physical activity people with painful knee arthritis do compared to the general population,” Daniel K. White, PT, ScD, MSc, of the of the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences, told Healio Rheumatology. “Studying this is important to gauge the burden of arthritis on daily physical activity.”
To compare the amount of physical activity performed by older adults with knee OA with that of adults without knee symptoms, the researchers drew data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a large, multicenter prospective cohort study of individuals with, or at risk for, knee OA in the United States. In that study, researchers collected physical activity data in a subset of participants from 2008 to 2010, with a 4-year follow-up.
White and colleagues evaluated data from 491 patients aged 50 to 85 years with symptomatic knee OA, as well as 449 similarly aged general-population adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Individuals in both groups wore uniaxial accelerometers for more than 10 hours per day for more than 4 days. The researchers calculated time spent performing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in minutes per day.
According to the researchers, time spent exerting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ranged from a median of 1 to 22 minutes per day among patients in the OA group, and 1 to 24 minutes per day in those in the general population without symptoms. These results remained similar in sensitivity analyses, the researchers wrote.
“The key takeaways were that there was, in fact, similar low levels of physical activity in people with painful knee arthritis as the general health population in the United States,” White said. “The clinical significance of our findings is that all of us, regardless of the presence of arthritis, need to do more physical activity. Behavioral factors more so than disease and pain are likely drivers of low levels of activity. The time is now for us to get up off the couch and get moving.” – by Jason Laday
Disclosure: The researchers report funding from a partnership between the NIH and Merck, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
Perspective
Back to Top
Vickie Sayles, BSN, CRNI, RN-BC
In the study conducted by Thoma and colleagues, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) between those with symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) was compared with similarly aged adults without knee symptoms from the general population in the United States.
Not surprisingly, both populations spent similarly low amounts of time engaging in MVPA. The average time that older adults were involved in moderate activity was just 8-10 minutes per day. Findings showed that no matter the physical limitations or comorbidities, 59-87% of all older adults fail to meet recommended physical activity guidelines.
Although any amount of physical activity is better than none, older adults should optimally engage in a minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. For additional health benefits, that time should be increased to 150 minutes and include muscle-strengthening exercises 2-3 times weekly.
While not everyone can participate in the recommended amounts of physical activity due to chronic health conditions, all should be as physically active as possible to enhance balance, prevent falls and remain in optimal physical health.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts