IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i10p5872-d1150646.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Aquatic Exercises for Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 12-Week Intervention in a Quasi-Experimental Study with Pain as a Mediator of Depression

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel A. Perez-Sousa

    (Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education, University of Córdoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain
    Epidemiology of Physical Activity and Fitness across Lifespan Research Group, University of Seville, 41004 Seville, Spain)

  • Jéssica Pedro

    (Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal)

  • Rocio Carrasco-Zahinos

    (Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Huelva, Avenida de las Fuerzas Armadas s/n, 21007 Huelva, Spain)

  • Armando Raimundo

    (Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal
    Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal)

  • Jose A. Parraca

    (Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal
    Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal)

  • Pablo Tomas-Carus

    (Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal
    Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal)

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by low physical fitness, pain, and depression. The present study aimed to examine the effects of a supervised aquatic exercise program on physical fitness, depression, and pain in women with RA and determine whether decreases in pain mediate depression. Methods: Forty-three women with RA, divided into an experimental group (EG; n = 21) and a control group (CG; n = 23), participated in a 12-week exercise program. Treatment effects were calculated via standardized difference or effect size (ES) using ANCOVA adjusted for baseline values (ES, 95% confidence interval (CI)). A simple panel of mediation was executed to determine whether changes in pain mediated improvements in depression after controlling for confounding variables, such as age, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). Results: The aquatic exercise program had trivial and small effects on physical fitness, large effects on pain, and moderate effects on depression. The mediation model confirmed the indirect effect of pain on the decrease of depression in the participants of the aquatic exercise program. Conclusions: Participants with RA in the aquatic exercise program experienced improvements in physical fitness, depression, and joint pain. Moreover, the improvements in joint pain mediated improvements in depression.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel A. Perez-Sousa & Jéssica Pedro & Rocio Carrasco-Zahinos & Armando Raimundo & Jose A. Parraca & Pablo Tomas-Carus, 2023. "Effects of Aquatic Exercises for Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 12-Week Intervention in a Quasi-Experimental Study with Pain as a Mediator of Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-8, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5872-:d:1150646
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5872/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5872/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vedrana Sember & Kaja Meh & Maroje Sorić & Gregor Starc & Paulo Rocha & Gregor Jurak, 2020. "Validity and Reliability of International Physical Activity Questionnaires for Adults across EU Countries: Systematic Review and Meta Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-23, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayazullah Safi & Irfan Khawaja & Peter Collins & Tony Myers, 2023. "A Cross-Sectional Study Exploring the Physical Activity Levels of Afghans and Other South Asian Youth in the UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Marcus Vinicius Nascimento-Ferreira & Ana Clara Arrais Rosa & Jacyara Cristina Azevedo & Armando Rodrigues de Alencar Santos & Keisyanne De Araujo-Moura & Kelber Abrão Ferreira, 2022. "Psychometric Properties of the Online International Physical Activity Questionnaire in College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-9, November.
    3. Thomas Ernst Dorner & Christian Lackinger & Sandra Haider & Igor Grabovac & Katharina Viktoria Stein, 2021. "The Influence of Occupational Categories on Overall and Domain-Specific Physical Activity and the Association with Chronic Diseases. An Analysis Using the Austrian Health Interview Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Dinko Martinovic & Daria Tokic & Marino Vilovic & Doris Rusic & Josipa Bukic & Josko Bozic, 2021. "Sport Dietary Supplements and Physical Activity in Biomedical Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    5. Ahmed Tarek Zaky Fouad & Danielle Sinnett & Isabelle Bray & Rachael McClatchey & Rebecca Reece, 2023. "Measures of Greenspace Exposure and Their Association to Health-Related Outcomes for the Periods before and during the 2020 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study in the West of England," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Zisis Papazisis & Pantelis T. Nikolaidis & Georgia Trakada, 2021. "Sleep, Physical Activity, and Diet of Adults during the Second Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-11, July.
    7. Jorge Velázquez Saornil & Zacarías Sánchez Milá & Angélica M. Campón Chekroun & Luis Baraja Vegas & Juan Vicente Mampel & Raúl Frutos Llanes & José Manuel Barragán Casas & David Rodríguez-Sanz, 2022. "Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Hyaluronic Acid, Dry Needling and Combined Treatment in Patellar Osteoarthritis—Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, September.
    8. Olaia Eizagirre-Sagastibeltza & Uxue Fernandez-Lasa & Javier Yanci & Estibaliz Romaratezabala & Ruth Cayero & Iñaki Iturrioz & Oidui Usabiaga, 2022. "Design and Validation of a Questionnaire to Assess the Leisure Time Physical Activity of Adult Women in Gipuzkoa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Kele Ding & Jingzhen Yang & Ming-Kai Chin & Lindsay Sullivan & J. Larry Durstine & Verónica Violant-Holz & Giyasettin Demirhan & Nara R.C. Oliveira & Biljana Popeska & Garry Kuan & Waheeda Khan & Jian, 2021. "Physical Activity among Adults Residing in 11 Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-16, July.
    10. Vojko Vučković & Klemen Krejač & Tanja Kajtna, 2022. "Exercise Motives of College Students after the COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-11, June.
    11. Hui Gao & Xingxing Li & Yunhua Zi & Xuanwen Mu & Mingjian Fu & Tingting Mo & Kuai Yu, 2022. "Reliability and Validity of Common Subjective Instruments in Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Chinese College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-10, July.
    12. Pauliina Husu & Henri Vähä-Ypyä & Kari Tokola & Harri Sievänen & Paulo Rocha & Tommi Vasankari, 2024. "Reliability and Validity of Self-Reported Questionnaires Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-13, May.
    13. Kaja Kastelic & Nejc Šarabon & Michael D. Burnard & Željko Pedišić, 2022. "Validity and Reliability of the Daily Activity Behaviours Questionnaire (DABQ) for Assessment of Time Spent in Sleep, Sedentary Behaviour, and Physical Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    14. Antonio Castillo-Paredes & Beatriz Iglésias & Claudio Farías-Valenzuela & Irina Kovalskys & Georgina Gómez & Attilio Rigotti & Lilia Yadira Cortés & Martha Cecilia Yépez García & Rossina G. Pareja & M, 2022. "Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Active Transportation in Adults from Eight Latin American Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-11, October.
    15. Kaja Meh & Vedrana Sember & Saša Đurić & Henri Vähä-Ypyä & Paulo Rocha & Gregor Jurak, 2021. "Reliability and Validity of Slovenian Versions of IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ for Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentarism of Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Kaja Meh & Gregor Jurak & Maroje Sorić & Paulo Rocha & Vedrana Sember, 2021. "Validity and Reliability of IPAQ-SF and GPAQ for Assessing Sedentary Behaviour in Adults in the European Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-17, April.
    17. Simone Schweda & Barbara Munz & Christof Burgstahler & Andreas Michael Niess & Inka Roesel & Gorden Sudeck & Inga Krauss, 2022. "Proof of Concept of a 6-Month Person-Oriented Exercise Intervention ‘MultiPill-Exercise’ among Patients at Risk of or with Multiple Chronic Diseases: Results of a One-Group Pilot Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-24, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5872-:d:1150646. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.