Deconditioning and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective. To explore whether aerobic capacity and physical activity are associated with fatigue, when controlling for age, gender, pain and depressive symptoms in persons with rheumatoid arthritis. Method. Fatigue (Multi Assessment of Fatigue scale), disease activity (Disease Activity Scale 28), pain, physical function and psychological status (Arthritis Measurement Impact Scale 2), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), aerobic capacity and physical activity (Short Questionnaire to Asses Health enhancing physical activity) were measured in 35 individuals. A hierarchical multiple regression was performed exploring variance of fatigue explained by aerobic capacity and physical activity.