Physical activity benefits mood in both osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis patients
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Physical activity counters the negative effect that fatigue can have on positive mood among adults with arthritis, according to a study published in the September issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
Rosisin S.M. Hegarty, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues assessed daily diaries from 70 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 72 with osteoarthritis. The diaries tracked fatigue, pain, and positive and negative mood and were completed during four fixed time windows per day for seven days.
The researchers found that physical activity buffered the same-day relationship between daily fatigue and positive mood for both groups of participants. Large decrements in mood were noted on high-fatigue days, but this was mitigated on days when participants were more physically active.
“These findings have implications for understanding the daily variations in fatigue and inform potential clinical interventions,” the authors write.
One author reports financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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