Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Oct 18;17(1):434.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-016-1266-6.

Motivational counselling and SMS-reminders for reduction of daily sitting time in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive randomised controlled feasibility study

T Thomsen  1   2 , M Aadahl  3   4 , N Beyer  5   6 , M L Hetland  7   6   8 , K Løppenthin  7 , J Midtgaard  4   9 , R Christensen  10 , B A Esbensen  7   6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Motivational counselling and SMS-reminders for reduction of daily sitting time in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive randomised controlled feasibility study

T Thomsen et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) spend a high proportion of their waking time in sedentary behaviour (SB) and have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Reduction of SB and increase in light intensity physical activity has been suggested as a means of improvement of health in patients with mobility problems. Short-term intervention studies have demonstrated that SB can be reduced by behavioural interventions in sedentary populations. To evaluate descriptively the feasibility of recruitment, randomisation, outcome assessments, retention and the acceptability of an individually tailored, theory-based behavioural intervention targeting reduction in daily sitting time in patients with RA.

Methods: A randomised, controlled trial with two parallel groups. RA patients >18 years of age and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score < 2.5 were consecutively invited and screened for daily leisure time sitting > 4 h. The 16-week intervention included 1) three individual motivational counselling sessions and 2) individual text message reminders aimed at reducing daily sitting time. The control group was encouraged to maintain their usual lifestyles. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and after the 16 week intervention. Daily sitting time was measured using an ActivPAL3TM activity monitor. The study was not powered to show superiority; rather the objective was to focus on acceptability among patients and clinical health professionals.

Results: In total, 107 patients were invited and screened before 20 met eligibility criteria and consented; reasons for declining study participation were mostly flares, lack of time and co-morbidities. One patient from the control group dropped out before end of intervention (due to a RA flare). Intervention participants completed all counselling sessions. All procedures regarding implementation of the trial protocol were feasible. The daily sitting time was reduced on average by 0.30 h in the intervention group unlike the control group that tended to increase it by 0.15 h after 16 weeks.

Conclusions: This study shows that an individually tailored behavioural intervention targeting reduction of SB was feasible and acceptable to patients with RA.

Trial registration: The Danish Data Protection Agency (ref.nb. 711-1-08 - 20 March 2011), the Ethics Committee of the Capital Region of Denmark (ref.nb. H-2-2012-112- 17 October 2012), clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT01969604 - October 17 2013, retrospectively registered).

Keywords: Acceptability; ActivPAL; Cardiovascular biomarkers; Fatigue; Individually tailored behavioural intervention; Pain; Self-efficacy; Text messages.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Time schedule of the 16 week intervention period including the applied behaviour change techniques according to the intervention taxonomy by Michie et al. [33]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The participants’ flow through the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Scott DL, Wolfe F, Huizinga TW. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 2010;376(9746):1094–1108. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60826-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hewlett S, Sanderson T, May J, Alten R, Bingham III CO, Cross M, March L, Pohl C, Woodworth T, Bartlett SJ. 'I'm hurting, I want to kill myself': rheumatoid arthritis flare is more than a high joint count--an international patient perspective on flare where medical help is sought. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2012;51(1):69–76. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keq455. - PubMed
    1. Michaud K, Wolfe F. Comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis. BestPractResClinRheumatol. 2007;21(5):885–906. - PubMed
    1. Linde L, Sorensen J, Ostergaard M, Horslev-Petersen K, Rasmussen C, Jensen DV, Hetland ML. What factors influence the health status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis measured by the SF-12v2 Health Survey and the Health Assessment Questionnaire? J Rheumatol. 2009;36(10):2183–2189. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.090134. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hurkmans E, van der Giesen FJ, Vliet Vlieland TP, Schoones J, Van den Ende EC. Dynamic exercise programs (aerobic capacity and/or muscle strength training) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;4:CD006853. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data