Behaviour change interventions to promote physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review

Abstract

Research has shown that people who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do not usually participate in enough physical activity to obtain the benefits of optimal physical activity levels, including quality of life, aerobic fitness and disease-related characteristics. Behaviour change theory underpins the promotion of physical activity. The aim of this systematic review was to explore behaviour change interventions which targeted physical activity behaviour in people who have RA, focusing on the theory underpinning the interventions and the behaviour change techniques utilised using specific behaviour change taxonomy. An electronic database search was conducted via EBSCOhost, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science databases in August 2014, using Medical Subject Headings and keywords. A manual search of reference lists was also conducted. Randomised control trials which used behaviour change techniques and targeted physical activity behaviour in adults who have RA were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Five studies with 784 participants were included in the review. Methodological quality of the studies was mixed. The studies consisted of behaviour change interventions or combined practical physical activity and behaviour change interventions and utilised a large variety of behaviour change techniques. Four studies reported increased physical activity behaviour. All studies used subjective methods of assessing physical activity with only one study utilising an objective measure. There has been varied success of behaviour change interventions in promoting physical activity behaviour in people who have RA. Further studies are required to develop and implement the optimal behaviour change intervention in this population.

Behaviour change techniques associated with adherence to prescribed exercise in patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain: Systematic review

“…The Risk of Bias (RoB) tool assesses trials across six bias domains (selection, performance, detection, attrition, reporting, and any other biases detected) and scores each domain as either high, low, or unclear RoB. However, due to the nature of the included studies, it was difficult to blind participants and the personnel delivering the intervention (Larkin et al, 2015;Van Tulder et al, 2001). Therefore, this domain was not included in the final RoB score.…”

Theoretical Approaches to Physical Activity Promotion

“…Hence, it is important to consider how interventions are delivered (i.e., in a need-supportive way) alongside their content. Consideration of the population characteristics is also imperative when selecting BCTs, as there is evidence that the same BCTs may not be as effective for older and younger people (French, Olander, Chisholm, & McSharry, 2014), or among those with chronic conditions (e.g., Cradock et al, 2017;Larkin et al, 2015).…”

Investigating the behaviour change techniques and Motivational Interviewing techniques in Physical Activity Counselling sessions

“…An area that has often been criticized in the literature is the poor description of interventions (Larkin et al, 2015;Michie, Fixsen et al, 2009). Transparency in the reporting of intervention content and delivery is "required to successfully evaluate, replicate and synthesise evidence from interventions" (Wood et al, 2015, p. 134).…”