Relationship Between Disease Activity Level and Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis Using a Triaxial Accelerometer and Self-reported Questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity level and physical activity (PA) by using an accelerometer and self-reported questionnaire.Results: The cross-sectional study included 34 patients with RA. We classified patients with a Disease Activity Score 28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) of less than and higher than 3.2 into the low-disease-activity (LDA) group and moderate/high-disease-activity (MHDA) group, respectively. PA was assessed using a triaxial accelerometer. We measured the wear time, time of vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), moderate-intensity PA (MPA), light-intensity PA (LPA), and sedentary behavior per day by using this device. Moreover, we evaluated the relationship between accelerometer-measured and self-reported PAs in each group. The accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was 17.2 min/day and 10.6 min/day in the MHDA group and LDA group (p < .05), respectively. No significant association was observed between RA disease activity level and accelerometer-measured PA with adjustment for age and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue score. No correlation was noted between accelerometer-measured MVPA and self-reported MVPA in the MHDA group, but these factors were correlated in the LDA group (rs = 0.5, p < .05). The RA disease activity level and accelerometer-measured PA were not correlated.