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. 2022 Feb 5;14(1):17.
doi: 10.1186/s13102-022-00408-2.

Effectiveness and safety of aerobic exercise for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Hui Ye  1 , Heng Weng  1 , Yue Xu  1 , Lulu Wang  1 , Qing Wang  2 , Guihua Xu  3
Affiliations

Effectiveness and safety of aerobic exercise for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Hui Ye et al. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. .

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can cause severe physical impairment and a reduced quality of life, and there is limited evidence for any effective intervention. Aerobic exercise may be beneficial for improving symptoms. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of aerobic exercise for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Methods: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched. Randomized controlled trials of the effectiveness and safety of aerobic exercise for rheumatoid arthritis were included. Risks of bias were assessed by two independent reviewers using the methods described in the RevMan 5.3, GRADEpro and the Cochrane Handbook. Meta-analyses were performed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on rheumatoid arthritis.

Results: A total of 13 RCTs were included, including 967 rheumatoid arthritis patients. The Meta-analysis results showed that aerobic exercise can improve functional ability [MD = - 0.25, 95% CI (- 0.38, - 0.11), P = 0.0002], relieve pain [SMD = - 0.46, 95% CI (- 0.90, - 0.01), P = 0.04], increase aerobic capacity [MD = 2.41, 95% CI (1.36, 3.45), P < 0.00001] and improve the Sit to Stand test score[MD = 1.60, 95% CI (0.07, 3.13), P = 0.04] with statistically significant differences.

Conclusion: Generally, aerobic exercise is beneficial and safe for RA patients and has a certain alleviating effect on the disease, such as functional ability improvement, pain relief and aerobic capacity increase. Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, future research with higher-quality studies needs to be conducted to verify the above conclusions.

Trial registration: PROPERO registration number: CRD42021242953.

Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Disease activity; Function ability; Meta-analysis; Randomized controlled trials; Rheumatoid arthritis; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Risk of bias. a Risk of bias summary and b risk of bias graph
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot: influence of aerobic exercise interventions on HAQ-DI score change
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot: a influence of aerobic exercise interventions on DAS-28 score change; b influence of aerobic exercise interventions on joint count change
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot of Inflammatory markers: a influence of aerobic exercise interventions on CRP change; b influence of aerobic exercise interventions on ESR change
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot of Inflammatory markers: a influence of aerobic exercise interventions on pain change; b influence of aerobic exercise interventions on VO2max change; c influence of aerobic exercise interventions on STS score change
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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