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

Written By : Jacinthlyn Sylvia |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2024-03-17T20:15:32+05:30 | Updated On 18 March 2024 9:53 AM IST

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

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseasesrheumatoid arthritisSupervised exercise therapy

Source : Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Jacinthlyn Sylvia

Neuroscience Masters graduate

Jacinthlyn Sylvia, a Neuroscience Master's graduate from Chennai has worked extensively in deciphering the neurobiology of cognition and motor control in aging. She also has spread-out exposure to Neurosurgery from her Bachelor’s. She is currently involved in active Neuro-Oncology research. She is an upcoming neuroscientist with a fiery passion for writing. Her news cover at Medical Dialogues feature recent discoveries and updates from the healthcare and biomedical research fields. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751