“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, the study also reports that few with osteoarthritis obtain the level of exercise and activity necessary to avoid more serious 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.
According to Reuters Health, the researchers measured physical activity in 65 women with severe osteoarthritis of the hip. All the subjects agreed to use an activity monitor known as an acceleration sensor, which is worn at the waist and tracks activity and its intensity.
Only 9 of the women spent more than 30 minutes each day on moderate intensity exercise but nearly 40% of the participants were deemed totally inactive, spending only 5 minutes a day on moderate level activity. The inactive participants, in general, were older and suffering from severe arthritis. Those unemployed were more likely to be inactive as well.
But arthritis severity, noted the report, did not influence the likelihood of inactivity in women who were employed. It's not clear, Hirata and his team note, whether the fact that they were employed helped these women to stay active or whether they were able to remain employed because they could function well enough stay on the job.
Home
Reader Comments 
Related Links 
Recent Posts