A health professional's guide to exercise prescription for people with arthritis: a review of aerobic fitness activities.

Abstract

Inactivity and subsequent cardiovascular and musculoskeletal deconditioning superimposed on the numerous impairments associated with arthritis play a significant role in patients’ overall functional status and quality of life (1–8). Research in the past 25 years has revealed not only that people with most forms of arthritis are less fit than their nonaffected, ageand sex-matched peers, but that they, like most other adults, can safely benefit from aerobic exercise activities (4–6). Regular, aerobic exercise provides both short-term and long-term benefits for people with arthritis and related musculoskeletal conditions. These positive changes include improved cardiovascular function (8–10), increased muscular strength and flexibility (8–11), decreased depression and anxiety (3), reduced fatigue (12), improved physical and social activity levels (6,13,14), and decreased or unchanged disease activity and pain (14). In addition, there is no long-term increase in the rate of joint damage (10,15,16), and both hospitalization and work disability are lessened (10,17). Whether there are differential effects of exercise modes on these arthritis symptoms and impairments is an important question that will be addressed in this paper (18).