According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, just one hour a week of brisk walking staves off disability in older adults with osteoarthritis.
Dunlop et al sought to identify evidence-based thresholds to maintain disability-free status over 4 years among adults with lower extremity joint symptoms. Image credit: Coombesy.
An estimated 14 million older adults in the United States have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of osteoarthritis. Approximately two in five people with osteoarthritis develop disability limitations.
“Our goal was to see what kind of activity would help people remain free of disability,” said Northwestern University’s Professor Dorothy Dunlop, lead author on the study.
Professor Dunlop and colleagues analyzed four years of data from more than 1,500 adults in the national Osteoarthritis Initiative from Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The adults all had pain, aching or stiffness in lower extremity joints from osteoarthritis but were free of disability when they began the study. Their physical activity was monitored using accelerometers.
The team found an hour of weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity allowed older adults to maintain their ability to perform daily tasks like getting dressed or cross a street before a traffic light walk signal changed.
The weekly hour of exercise reduced their risk of mobility disability (walking too slowly to safely cross a street or less than one meter per second) by 85% and their risk of activities of daily living disability (difficulty performing morning routine tasks such as walking across a room, bathing and dressing) by almost 45%.
Four years after the start of the study, 24% of adults who did not get the weekly hour of brisk physical activity were walking too slowly to safely cross the street, and 23% reported problems performing their morning routine.
“This is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It’s very doable,” Professor Dunlop said.
“This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity.”
Federal guidelines recommend older adults with arthritis should participate in low-impact activity.
For substantial health benefits including reducing the risk for heart disease and many other chronic diseases, these guidelines recommend older adults participate in at least 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity activity.
“But that level of activity can be daunting for inactive older adults with lower extremity pain,” Professor Dunlop said.
“We hope this new public health finding will motivate an intermediate physical activity goal. One hour a week is a stepping stone for people who are currently inactive. People can start to work toward that.”
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Dorothy D. Dunlop et al. One Hour a Week: Moving to Prevent Disability in Adults With Lower Extremity Joint Symptoms. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published online March 20, 2019; doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.12.017
