This study demonstrates that physical activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis may be understood as a resource to resist disability and to feel and stay healthy while creating and sustaining meaningfulness in life.

ObjectivesTo identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative studies on the experience of living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related fatigue.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative metasynthesis encompassing a systematic literature search in February 2017, for studies published in the past 15 years, in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, SveMed, PsychINFO and Web of Science. To be included, the studies had to report the experience of living with fatigue among adults with RA. The analysis and synthesis followed Malterud’s systematic text condensation.ResultsEight qualitative articles were included, based on 212 people with RA (69% women) and aged between 20 and 83 years old. The synthesis resulted in the overall theme ‘A vicious circle of an unpredictable symptom’. In addition, the synthesis derived four subthemes: ‘being alone with fatigue’; ‘time as a challenge’; ‘language as a tool for increased understanding’ and ‘strategies to manage fatigue’. Fatigue affects all areas of everyday life for people with RA. They strive to plan and prioritise, pace, relax and rest. Furthermore, they try to make use of a variety of words and metaphors to explain to other people that they experience that RA-related fatigue is different from normal tiredness. Despite this, people with RA-related fatigue experience feeling alone with their symptom and they develop their own strategies to manage fatigue in their everyday life.ConclusionsThe unpredictability of RA-related fatigue is dominant, pervasive and is experienced as a vicious circle, which can be described in relation to its physical, cognitive, emotional and social impact. It is important for health professionals to acknowledge and address the impact of fatigue on the patients’ everyday lives. Support from health professionals to manage fatigue and develop strategies to increase physical activity and maintain work is important for people with RA-related fatigue.

Background Multimorbidity is a growing challenge worldwide. In this nationwide study, we investigated the prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy at the time of diagnosis across 20 cancers. Methods We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study of all Danish residents with a first primary cancer diagnosed between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2015. Multimorbidity was defined as one or more of 20 conditions (131 specific diagnoses) registered in the Danish National Patient Registry < 5 years before the cancer diagnosis. Polypharmacy was defined as five or more medications registered in the Danish National Prescription Registry and redeemed twice 2–12 months before the cancer diagnosis. Results We included 261,745 patients with a first primary cancer, of whom 55% had at least one comorbid condition at diagnosis and 27% had two or more. The most prevalent conditions at the time of cancer diagnosis were cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, stroke and depression/anxiety disorder. Polypharmacy was present in one-third of the cancer patients with antihypertensives, anti-thrombotic agents, anti-hyperlipidaemic agents, analgesics and diuretics as the most prevalent redeemed medications. Conclusion Among patients with a newly established cancer diagnosis, 55% had at least one comorbid condition and 32% were exposed to polypharmacy.

This study's objective was to investigate the efficacy and acceptability of intermittent aerobic exercise training on sleep parameters, fatigue, pain, depressive symptoms, physical function, and cardiorespiratory fitness in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods. Thirty-eight people with RA were assigned to intermittent aerobic exercise training (three sessions/ week for 6 weeks; intervention group, n = 17) or usual care (control group, n = 21). The primary outcome was a change in polysomnography-assessed sleep efficiency from baseline to the end of the intervention. Secondary outcomes were sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), fatigue (Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire), depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression), and cardiorespiratory fitness (watt max test).Results. No between-group differences were found in changes in polysomnography-assessed sleep efficiency (0.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.02 to 0.09, P = 0.17). In the intervention group, sleep efficiency was improved significantly from baseline (0.84; 95% CI: 0.80-0.88) compared with the end of the intervention (6 weeks) (0.88; 95% CI: 0.85-0.92); however, there was no significant difference in the control group. Fatigue and depression measures were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group. Between-group differences were overall fatigue (−16.1; 95% CI: −25.1 to −7.0, P = 0.001), physical fatigue (−5.0; 95% CI: −7.3 to −2.7, P = 0.0001), cognitive fatigue (−2.4; 95% CI: −4.2 to 0.6, P = 0.009), living with fatigue (−2.5; 95% CI: −4.5 to −0.5, P = 0.01), and depressive symptoms (−6.8; 95% CI: −12.4 to −1.1, P = 0.02).Conclusion. The intervention yielded no significantly better sleep efficiency compared with usual care. However, aspects of fatigue, including physical and cognitive fatigue, and depressive symptoms were significantly improved in the intervention group. This is an investigator-initiated study solely funded by noncommercial sources. Funding sources have had no role in the design, study execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit results.