Many arthritis patients inactive
About half of the people with knee osteoarthritis are inactive while exercise may significantly reduce their pain and improve their movement.
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg measured the physical activity of 1,111 people aged 49 to 84 with radiographic knee osteoarthritis and compared the results with standard recommendations for these patients.
They asked participants to wear an accelerometer for one week during waking hours. The small device measures physical activity.
Only 12.9 percent of men and 7.7 percent of women achieved standard level of physical activity, according to the results published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
In other words, 56.5 percent of women and 40.1 percent of men with knee osteoarthritis were basically "couch potatoes," and did no moderate to vigorous exercise lasting 10 minutes or more in a week.
The US federal aerobic physical activity guidelines recommend adults with arthritis to engage 150 minutes of moderate-intensity and low-impact activity per week.
However, the levels of physical activity in the studied patients were significantly lower than what had been reported in previous studies that relied on participants' self-reported accounts of exercise and activity.
"We had assumed that people might be overstating physical activity in past self-reported data, but were surprised to find that the physical activity rates were much, much lower than what was previously reported," said senior author Dorothy Dunlop.
"The fact that so many people with arthritis are inactive should be a wake-up call to physicians,” the lead researcher warned.
”Even though they have joint disease, patients need to be reminded that physical activity is actually good for them. People with arthritis should be as physically active as possible, even if they accomplish less than the recommended levels. When it comes to physical activity, there is good evidence that the benefits far outweigh the risks and being inactive is especially detrimental to health," he further suggested.
Source:presstv.ir
