Association between disease activity, attitudes toward exercise and exercise in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

摘要

This was a cross-sectional study of 111 patients who had a clinical diagnosis of RA and were enrolled from an academic center. Subjects completed the following questionnaires: Exercise Attitude and Beliefs, Exercise Activity Questionnaire, Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale and Short Form (SF-36) Mental Health Status. Disease activity was measured using the Disease Activity Score (DAS28). A t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression were used in data analysis. Patients with mildly active RA exercised more compared to patients with moderately and highly active RA. The mode of exercise chosen matched established recommendations. Disease activity was not associated with patients' attitudes and beliefs toward exercise. Significant predictors of exercise behaviors were attitudes and beliefs toward exercise and RA disease activity. Patients were three times more likely to exercise more if they had positive attitudes and beliefs toward exercise or had mildly active RA.