The Association Between Physical Activity and Fatigue Among Adults With Rheumatic Disease in a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract

Objective: Adults with rheumatic disease (RD) experience high levels of fatigue. Regular physical activity has been shown to reduce fatigue among adults. Despite this evidence, adults with RD are more likely to be physically inactive compared with those without RD. Little information is known about the association of physical activity level and fatigue among adults with RD. This study investigated the association of physical activity level and fatigue among adults with and without RD. Methods: Adults (≥18 y) who participated in the 2018 National Health Interview Survey (unweighted n = 25,471) were included in this cross-sectional study. Physical activity and fatigue were self-reported. Statistical analyses were weighted to account for complex survey sampling design. Results: Significantly more adults with RD experience fatigue compared with adults without RD (26.19% vs 13.23%). Adults with RD who were inactive had 2.81 times (95% CI, 2.37–3.34) higher odds of experiencing fatigue compared to adults with RD who were sufficiently active, after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: Overall, fatigue was more common among adults with RD than it was in the population without RD.