Physical activity in patients with Sjögren’s disease: Compliance with World Health Organization recommendations and relationship with health-related quality of life

Abstract

Objective

Physical activity (PA) can be beneficial for disease-related outcomes. Our aim was to investigate the types of PA performed, how many patients complied with the World Health Organization (WHO) PA recommendations and the association of PA levels with health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in patients with Sjögren’s disease (SjD).

Methods

Consecutive patients from the RESULT cohort were included. The modified Short QUestionnaire to ASsess Health enhancing physical activity (mSQUASH) was used to determine the types of PA and compliance with WHO PA recommendations, consisting of aerobic PA (≥150 min), muscle strengthening (≥2 times/week) and functional balance (≥3 times/week) components. The associations between PA and HR-QoL (SF-36 domains) were analyzed using linear regression.

Results

245 SjD patients were included. Most frequently reported PA were household activities (91 %), walking (88 %) and cycling (62 %). Sports and exercise were performed by 55 % of patients; most often fitness, physiotherapy/sport, group lessons, swimming and yoga. In total, 92 % of patients fulfilled the aerobic PA component, 31 % the muscle strengthening component and 7 % the functional balance component. mSQUASH scores showed significant associations with SF-36 domain scores, with the strongest association for physical functioning (R² = 0.19) and role limitations due to physical health (R² = 0.17). These associations remained significant after correcting for age, sex, BMI, ESSPRI, ESSDAI and current immunosuppressive medication use.

Conclusion

Almost all patients with SjD performed aerobic PA, but patients could integrate more muscle strengthening and functional balance activities according to the WHO PA recommendations. Higher levels of PA were significantly associated with better HR-QoL.