Physical activity and barriers and facilitators in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or spondyloarthritis: a cross-sectional study of 150 patients

Abstract BackgroundBarriers and facilitators to physical activity in inflammatory arthritis can be assessed through the Inflammatory arthritis Facilitators and barriers questionnaire (IFAB) questionnaire. The objective was to measure the correlation between IFAB and self-reported physical activity levels.MethodsThis was an international, multicentric, cross-sectional study in 2019-20 (NCT04426747). Consecutive spondyloarthritis (axSpA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients completed the 10-item IFAB, ranging − 70 to 70 with lower scores indicating more barriers. Physical activity was measured by the IPAQ-S questionnaire, steps per day collected by smartphone, and psychological readiness to change by stages of behavior change. Spearman correlations and multivariable linear regression were calculated.ResultsOf 245 patients included, 150 were analysed: 69 (46%) axSpA, 63 (42%) RA, 18 (12%) PsA. Mean age was 48.6 years (standard deviation, SD 17.1), mean disease duration 11.7 (10.1) years and 60% were women. Barriers to physical activity were moderate: mean IFAB, 6 (SD 19.2); 39 (26%) patients scored less than − 5, corresponding to significant barriers. The mean physical activity was 2837 (SD 2668, median 1784) MET-minutes per week. Physical activity was correlated with the IFAB (rho 0.28, p < 0.001), as well as the stage of behavior change (rho 0.35, p < 0.001) though not with steps per day. Multivariable analyses were confirmatory.ConclusionPerceived barriers and facilitators to physical activity were correlated with physical activity, indicating that targeting patients with high barriers and low facilitators to physical activity could be an effective option to improve physical activity levels.Trial registration on ClinicalTrialNCT04426747. Registered 11 June 2011 - Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04426747