Long-Term Exercise Therapy Improves Functional Outcomes among Rheumatoid Arthritis patients: BMJ

A recent study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases found the effectiveness of longstanding supervised exercise therapy in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe functional limitations.

This comprehensive study enrolled a total of 217 participants who were primarily females with an average age of 58.8 years. The participants were randomly assigned to either receive individualized goal-setting, active exercises, education and self-management regarding physical activity (the intervention group) or to continue with usual care.

The primary endpoint of the study was the change in the Patient-Specific Complaints activity ranked 1 (PSC1, 0–10) at 52 weeks. Secondary endpoints included various measures such as the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RAQoL) and the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) among others.

The results at the 52-week mark revealed a significant improvement in the PSC1 in the intervention group when compared to usual care. Also, secondary outcomes also showed remarkable enhancements in the intervention group, except for the SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS). These secondary outcomes included improved physical function, quality of life and increased walking distance.

This study also observed the occurrence of only one mild, transient adverse event in the intervention group which highlights the safety of supervised exercise therapy. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of longstanding, supervised exercise therapy in managing RA in the individuals with severe functional limitations.

Source:

Teuwen, M. M. H., van Weely, S. F. E., Vliet Vlieland, T. P. M., van Wissen, M. A. T., Peter, W. F., den Broeder, A. A., van Schaardenburg, D., van den Hout, W. B., Van den Ende, C. H. M., & Gademan, M. G. J. (2024). Effectiveness of longstanding exercise therapy compared with usual care for people with rheumatoid arthritis and severe functional limitations: a randomised controlled trial. In Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (Vol. 83, Issue 4, pp. 437–445). BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2023-224912