SARAH Exercise Program in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Izmir Katip Celebi University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatments: Other: Exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05727488

SARAHRA

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the SARAH home exercise program to be applied for 12 weeks on wrist proprioception and hand functions in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Full description

Finger/hand/wrist joints can be affected in the early period in patients with RA, and as the disease progresses, it can significantly limit the patient's functionality. Damage to articular and periarticular structures seen in inflammatory arthritis may affect the sense of proprioception by destroying mechanoreceptors located in these areas. Hand functions may worsen as a result of the worsening of the sense of proprioception, which can be defined as being aware of body parts.

SARAH (Strengthening and Stretching for Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Hand) home exercise program, which is a widely preferred approach in the case of hand involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), includes exercises to increase hand-wrist strength and mobility. Although the effectiveness of this program on pain, muscle strength, and range of motion has been demonstrated in large patient groups, its effect on proprioception and hand functions, which may be caused by inflammatory arthritis, has not been studied. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the SARAH home exercise program on wrist proprioception and hand functions in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Enrollment: 49 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. RA diagnosis according to 2010 ACR/EULAR RA criteria
2. Being between the ages of 18-65
3. Being able to follow Turkish instructions
4. Volunteering to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

1. Being in an acute disease exacerbation period
2. Ongoing physiotherapy/occupational/exercise treatment regarding hands within the last 6 months
3. History of steroid injection, surgery, or trauma to the upper extremity in the last 6 months

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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49 participants in 2 patient groups

Exercise

Experimental group

Description:

The SARAH exercise program will be delivered by sending messages and video instructions via a freeware and cross-platform messaging service (WhatsApp Messenger) on a weekly basis.

Treatment:

Other: Exercise

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Patients in the control group will not receive any exercise intervention. They will only maintain their routine medical treatment.