Sedentary arthritis patients risk disability
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Few women with arthritis of the
hip may be getting the exercise they need to prevent
disability, researchers from Japan report.
Moderate-intensity activity can help ease pain, boost
function and stave off disability in people with
osteoarthritis, Dr. Soichiro Hirata and colleagues from the
Kobe University School of Medicine write. However, a few
studies have suggested physical inactivity is common among
osteoarthritis sufferers, and may be linked to worse pain, poor
health and psychosocial problems.
“Identifying inactive patients is important because they
are at risk for disability and are expected to benefit most
from increasing their physical activity,” Hirata and his team
point out.
To investigate, Hirata and his team measured physical
activity in 65 women with severe osteoarthritis of the hip. All
agreed to use an activity monitor known as an acceleration
sensor, which is worn at the waist and tracks activity as well
as its intensity.
The researchers found major differences in activity levels
among the participants, with the most active women spending
nearly eight times as much time on the move as the most
sedentary participants. Just nine of the women spent more than
30 minutes a day in moderate-intensity activity. Twenty-eight
patients, or 38 percent, were classified as inactive. Compared
to the rest of the participants, these women spent 5.6 minutes
in moderate activity daily vs. 22.9 minutes.
The inactive patients were older, walked more slowly and
more likely to have severe, or end-stage, arthritis.
Among women with the severest arthritis, those who were
unemployed were more likely to be inactive. But arthritis
severity did not influence the likelihood of inactivity in
women who were employed. It’s not clear, Hirata and his team
note, whether employment itself helped these women to stay
active, or whether their higher levels of activity allowed them
to function well enough stay on the job.
The researchers call for public health efforts to encourage
older people with osteoarthritis to be more active.
SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, May 2006.