Physical activity in adults with and without rheumatoid arthritis: cross-sectional results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Abstract

Objective

Studies examining habitual physical activity levels and patterns in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using raw data from modern accelerometers are lacking. We aimed (i) to examine physical activity levels and patterns in adults with RA in their familiar environment, and (ii) to investigate whether physical activity levels differ throughout the day.

Method

Data were taken from Wave 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, including N = 607 men and women who wore a triaxial accelerometer and had adequate information for RA and accelerometry data summarized as Euclidean norm minus one (ENMO, mg). Growth-curve models and simple contrast analysis were used to examine the effect of RA on daily patterns of physical activity levels, including mean total ENMO in mg, mean minutes of light-intensity physical activity (ENMO values ≥ 25 mg and ≤ 75 mg), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (ENMO values > 75 mg).

Results

Total physical activity averaged throughout the day was 25.0 and 28.6 mg for respondents with and without RA, respectively. Respondents with RA spent more time in light-intensity physical activity throughout the day (p < 0.001), but less time in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity between 4 am and 11 pm (p < 0.001) than respondents without RA.

Conclusion

Adults with RA were less physically active than adults without RA. However, there were no diurnal differences in physical activity.

Acknowledgements

The data collection for SHARE has been funded by the European Commission, DG RTD, through FP5 (QLK6-CT-2001-00360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812), FP7 (SHARE-PREP: GA N°211909, SHARE-LEAP: GA N°227822, SHARE M4: GA N°261982, DASISH: GA N°283646), and Horizon 2020 (SHARE-DEV3: GA N°676536, SHARE-COHESION: GA N°870628, SERISS: GA N°654221, SSHOC: GA N°823782, SHARE-COVID19: GA N°101015924); and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, through VS 2015/0195, VS 2016/0135, VS 2018/0285, VS 2019/0332, and VS 2020/0313. Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, the US National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C, RAG052527A), and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Availability of data and materials

The data sets analysed during the current study are distributed by SHARE-ERIC to registered users through the SHARE Research Data Center [Börsch-Supan A. Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Wave 8. COVID-19 Survey 1. Release version: 8.0.0. SHARE-ERIC. Data set. DOI: 10.6103/SHARE.w8ca.800. 2022. More information about the data resource profile can be found here: Börsch-Supan A, Brandt M, Hunkler C, Kneip T, Korbmacher J, Malter F, Schaan B, Stuck S, Zuber S; SHARE Central Coordination Team. Data resource profile: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Int J Epidemiol 2013;42:992–1001.

Authors’ contributions

MHB and LB designed the study, MHB performed the analyses, prepared the figures, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. FB, HB, AH, HHK, and LB provided critical input and contributed to the drafting of the manuscript. All the authors approved the final manuscript for submission.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations, and all protocols were approved and granted by the Ethics Council of the Max Planck Society. An overview and summary of the SHARE project’s ethical approvals can be found here: http://www.share-project.org/fileadmin/pdf_documentation/SHARE_ethics_approvals.pdf. Every participant signed an informed consent form to participate.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03009742.2023.2269672

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.