Effect of a six-week walking program on work place activity limitations among adults with arthritis.

Author: Nyrop KA, Charnock BL, Martin KR, Lias J, Altpeter M, Callahan LF.
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Conference/Journal: Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken).
Date published: 2011 Dec
Other: Volume ID: 63 , Issue ID: 12 , Pages: 1173-6 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1002/acr.20604. , Word Count: 228


ram on work place activity limitations of adults with self-reported or doctor-diagnosed arthritis.

METHODS:
WWE participants who were self-identified as "employed" completed the Workplace Activity Limitation Scale (WALS) at 6-week (postintervention; n = 94) and 1-year followup (n = 69). Paired t-tests were used to determine whether reduced work place limitations were reported at 6 weeks and maintained at 1-year followup.

RESULTS:
Participants were on average age 55 years, 88% women, and 61% white. The mean body mass index was 32 kg/m(2) , and 81% had more than a high school education. Overall WALS scores improved significantly from a mean ± SD of 6.7 ± 3.99 at baseline to 5.5 ± 4.20 at 6-week followup (P < 0.001, effect size 0.30). Improvements were maintained at 1-year followup, i.e., no change from 6-week followup (P = 0.87). Work place activities reported by participants as "some" or "a lot" of difficulty at baseline, i.e., "crouch/bend/kneel/work in awkward positions," "stand for long periods," and "lift/carry/move objects," showed some of the highest improvements at 6 weeks. "Concentrate/keep your mind on the job" also improved significantly, although it was not rated as a substantial difficulty at baseline.

CONCLUSION:
Our study provides encouraging evidence that WWE, a brief, low-cost, and easy-to-do community-based walking program, may provide both immediate and sustained benefits for people with self-reported arthritis who also report a range of work place limitations related to their arthritis symptoms.

Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Rheumatology.

PMID: 22127968

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