Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine effects of person-centered physical therapy on fatigue and
related variables in persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). DESIGN: Randomized
controlled trial. SETTING: Hospital outpatient rheumatology clinic. PARTICIPANTS:
Persons with RA aged 20 to 65 years (N=70): intervention group (n=36) and
reference group (n=34). INTERVENTIONS: The 12-week intervention, with 6-month
follow-up, focused on partnership between participant and physical therapist and
tailored health-enhancing physical activity and balancing life activities. The
reference group continued with regular activities; both groups received usual
health care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was general fatigue (visual
analog scale). Secondary outcomes included multidimensional fatigue (Bristol
Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire) and fatigue-related
variables (ie, disease, health, function). RESULTS: At posttest, general fatigue
improved more in the intervention group than the reference group (P=.042).
Improvement in median general fatigue reached minimal clinically important
differences between and within groups at posttest and follow-up. Improvement was
also observed for anxiety (P=.0099), and trends toward improvements were observed
for most multidimensional aspects of fatigue (P=.023-.048), leg
strength/endurance (P=.024), and physical activity (P=.023). Compared with the
reference group at follow-up, the intervention group improvement was observed for
leg strength/endurance (P=.001), and the trends toward improvements persisted for
physical (P=.041) and living-related (P=.031) aspects of fatigue, physical
activity (P=.019), anxiety (P=.015), self-rated health (P=.010), and
self-efficacy (P=.046). CONCLUSIONS: Person-centered physical therapy focused on
health-enhancing physical activity and balancing life activities showed
significant benefits on fatigue in persons with RA.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS