Self-reported physical activity in Danish patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Physical activity is acknowledged as an important factor for enhancing health, and the WHO recommends performing physical activity weekly. The aim of this study was to describe self-reported physical activity in a population of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

The patients were enrolled at outpatient consultations where patient and disease characteristics such as age, gender, disease damage (SLICC/ACR-DI), disease activity (SLEDAI-2K) and medication were registered. Self-reported physical activity was evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and a continuous variable on energy requirement in the form of the metabolic equivalent (MET) was calculated. Depression was evaluated with the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) questionnaire.

A total of 210 patients reported a mean total MET score of 5,319 ± 3,650 (mean ± standard deviation) MET-min./week, and they spent an average of 194 ± 118 min./day being physically active. 70.5% of the patients reported a high level of physical activity and 89.5% met the WHO recommendations. The MDI questionnaire found that 10.5% were depressed. Severely depressed patients had lower MET scores, but this group only included six patients. Physical activity was inversely associated with time spent sitting according to the IPAQ (p = 0.001), disease duration (p = 0.02) and the SLICC/ACR DI score (p = 0.01), but not with the MDI (p = 0.26).

A large share of the patients reported a high level of physical activity and met the WHO recommendations.

Odense University Hospital Fund for Pre-graduate Scholarships (A 3478).

not relevant.