A study reported that patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) either are sedentary even prior to initiation of methotrexate (MTX) or stop performing physical activity (PA) over the first year of treatment.
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The research utilized data from the Rheumatoid Arthritis
Medication Study (RAMS) and included 1,468 volunteers (average age of 60 years,
where 65.2% are female) with early RA starting MTX. Volunteers reported
demographics and completed the questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12 months,
including reporting the number of days per week they performed at least >20
minutes of physical activity (PA).
Most of the volunteers were overweight with a median
BMI of 27.2 kg/m2 and had moderate disease activity. Moreover, the population
size had moderate levels of disability, pain, and fatigue.
Base on the data collected, there are 408 (27.8%) of
the volunteers reported being sedentary, 518 (35.3%) had low PA levels (1 – 3 days
per week), and 542 (36.9%) reported high PA levels (4 – 7 days per week). Majority
of the volunteers (80%) maintained some PA or started doing PA between
assessments.
In the meantime, physical activity level dropped in
24.1% (175/725) of the volunteers who were already active at baseline. Those
still performing PA at 6 months, 22.6% (137/606) decreased their PA by 12
months, and 10.2% (62/606) stopped their physical activity completely.
The factors that are significantly correlated with physical
activity (PA) interruption were baseline smoking, higher disability, and
greater socioeconomic challenges.
Results of the study specify that a significant proportion
of patients may benefit from interventions to keep them physically active. Public
health strategies targeted at maintaining or promoting PA in RA need to consider
socioeconomic barriers when designing and delivering interventions. For complete
details of the study, click here.
Source: Rheumatology 2021;doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keab060