Exercise could combat fatigue among arthritis patients says Scottish study
| Author | Ella Pickover, PA Health Correspondent |
| Published date | 28 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
Statistics show that around 800,000 people suffer from these chronic pain conditions. And of that number, one in five - around 80 per cent - live with fatigue that affects their every day life.
Some of the ways this impacts their life is their ability to concentrate, go to work as well as to live independently. The new study, published in Lancet Rheumatology, examined how to improve fatigue among these patients.
Researchers from the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, and funded by charity Versus Arthritis, compared three different types of care, as provided to 368 people with various inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Participants were also either given telephone-delivered physical activity programmes, cognitive behavioural therapy or they received usual care.
Those in the exercise group had five one-to-one 45-minute sessions over 30 weeks while those who had talking therapy received an average of eight sessions over the same period and the usual care group were given an education booklet on fatigue.
During the research, experts discovered that patients who had talking therapies or exercise therapy significantly improved fatigue levels compared to those receiving usual care with the benefits continued for six months following completion of the courses of treatment.
And people who were offered these interventions also reported improved sleep, mental health and quality of life, compared to those who received usual care.
Wendy Booth from Pitmedden in Aberdeenshire, had to give up her job as a psychiatric nurse at Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen as a result of the effects of lupus and Sjogren's syndrome.
She said: "The fatigue really affects what you can do. if I do some work in the garden one day, I know I'll pay for it the next."
The 57-year-old, who received physical activity sessions as part of the study, added: "The physio called me about once a fortnight and it really encouraged me. I feel like it (the study) helped give me purpose.
"I joined a gym and I have a good instructor who understands my abilities and gives me modified exercises so I can...
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