EULAR 2015: Benefits of Individualizing Exercise Therapy

Helena Alexanderson, PT, PhD, emphasized that even people with connective tissue disease with high levels of disease activity can tolerate and benefit from low- to moderate-intensity exercises.¹⁰ However, among individuals with interstitial lung disease involvement, supervised exercise of lower intensity is recommended along with close follow-up. Data suggest patients with severe fibromyalgia symptoms should be exercising with lower duration, frequency and intensity than typically prescribed.¹¹

In her presentation, Emalie Hurkmans, PT, PhD, focused on how to overcome barriers to obtain and maintain optimal levels of exercise intensity. She suggested that future studies should examine how to make exercise programs more attractive, for example, by including elements that make people happy, such as music, doing good for others or exercising outdoors.

In her presentation, Maura Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH, synthesized the data on adverse outcomes related to trials of exercise in adults with OA, RA and myositis. Dr. Iversen noted that individuals conducting clinical trials of exercise appear to use varying definitions of adverse events, some of which classify outcomes as reasons for drop out vs. adverse events (e.g., chest pain during exercise). Dr. Iversen noted that clinical trials of exercise in dermatomyositis and polymyositis appear to be highly controlled, of lower intensity and report the fewest adverse events. Whereas, exercise trials in OA and RA appear to have more risk for adverse events in the short term and long term, particularly among activities that involve joint loading (such as running). Dr. Iversen suggested a more uniform method for classifying adverse events in exercise trials be considered.

Rikke Helene Moe, PT, MSc, PhD, is a physical therapist and researcher at the National Advisory Unit on Rehabilitation in Rheumatology in Norway. She has been working in the field of rheumatology since 1998, both as a clinician and a researcher. She is active in the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), and in the EUMUSC.NET collaboration project supported by EULAR and the European Union. Her major research interests are in the fields of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, especially in the areas of functioning, disability and health.

References

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