Obesity makes it even less likely that a patient with arthritis is going to exercise, according to findings from two surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Arthritis is a common comorbidity of obesity. Approximately one-third (35.6%) of adults with self-reported obesity were also affected by physician-diagnosed arthritis, judging from the combined results of the surveys, which were performed in 2007 and 2009.
The combination of arthritis and obesity resulted in a more sedentary lifestyle: 22.7% of obese adults with arthritis were physically inactive, compared with 16.1% with arthritis alone, 13.5% with obesity alone, and 9.4% with neither condition (MMWR 2011;60:614-8).
The state-based, random-digit–dialed telephone survey included a total of 789,460 adults from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. These surveys are part of a series conducted by the CDC to examine the affects of arthritis and comorbid conditions. Previous studies looked at arthritis comorbidity with diabetes and heart disease. CDC researcher Kamil Barbour, Ph.D., said in an interview that results show that patients with chronic conditions are less likely to be physically active if they also have arthritis.
In an editor’s note, the CDC report observed: "Arthritis and obesity are common chronic conditions affecting an estimated 50 million and 72 million U.S. adults, respectively. The findings in this report indicate that these conditions co-occur commonly (one in three adults with obesity also has arthritis) and might hinder the management of both conditions by limiting physical activity. Among adults with both obesity and arthritis, the adjusted likelihood of physical inactivity was 44% higher compared with that of adults with obesity but without arthritis; all state-specific estimates were consistent with these results. These findings suggest that among many persons with obesity, arthritis might be an additional barrier to physical activity."
Dr. Barbour said that numerous barriers involved in arthritis can hinder people’s ability to be active, beyond just being obese. The findings of these surveys should encourage doctors to consider the patient’s full range of difficulties when making recommendations to engage in exercise, he added.
"We want to make [physicians] aware that they should look beyond obesity and any of the current conditions that [patients] may have, and look at the arthritis-specific barriers and kind of tailor their interventions toward addressing these [barriers]."
Dr. Barbour said the CDC will be using this information to augment community physical activity programs through the CDC Arthritis Program. The programs include EnhanceFitness, the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, and the Arthritis Foundation Walk With Ease programs, as well as self-management education programs.
Dr. Barbour and the other researchers who conducted and reported the study all work for the CDC.