Impact Of Exercise Therapy On The Function Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

ObjectiveThe aim of study is to find out the changes of joint function state, health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) scores and disease activity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients during exercise intervention, as to provide an theoretical basis for the exercise therapy as well as to offer a clinical guidance for specialized rehabilitation ofRA.Methods1.The subjects consisted of60patients with RA from the outpatient and inpatient of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University who were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. Specialized rehabilitation doctors had adopted a "one-to-one" recovery mode in exercise therapy for RA patients for three months.2.Exam disease activity index, hands strength, active range of motion (AROM) and HAQ scores of RA patients before and after treatment were detecded.3.Analyzed the relationship of the changes in disease activity index and joint function on the life quality of RA patients. Results1.Morning stiffness, patients’ general assessment (PGA), tender joint count (TJC28), swollen joint count (SJC28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), disease activity score (DAS28) and average hands grip strength of both groups were improved after3months treatment, and treatment group improved significantly better than the control group in average hands grip strength, PGA and DAS28score.2.The RA patients of the treatment group indicated an improvement in active range of motion, some joints had statistical significant improvement. The RA patients of the control group showed decrease in the dorsal and stretch of the left side wrist and radial motion after treatment, and the radial partial difference has statistically significance after the treatment; the active range of motion of the rest joints in control group improved either, but there was no statistically difference.3.HAQ scores before and after treatment of the two groups improved significantly, the degree of improvement in treatment group was significant higher than that of control group. Evaluation on HAQ scores in diet, walk, grasping and activities showed statistically significant improvement of the treatment group after3months; however, in control group there had no statistical significance.Conclusions1.Drugs could control RA disease activity, but with disease progression, RA patients who lack functional exercise experienced decline in active range of motion.2.Exercise therapy combined with effective drugs could control muscle and joint mobility of RA patients.3.With the recovery of joints function, life quality and self-assessment of physical state of RA patients could be improved.