[nukkad] Sedentary arthritis patients risk disability

["Nelson Fernandes" <>]

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.



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(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.


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Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study. 
-Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)
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