Studies assessing pain severity in relation with physical activity
| Study (year) | Disease activity | Pain severity | Findings | ||
| Baseline | Follow-up | ||||
| SF-36 BP (additive 0–100, norm-based mean 50, SD 10); lower score, more pain | |||||
| Alexanderson et al11 | Inactive on stable treatment | SF-36 BP, median (range) 88 (25–100), VAS score (0–100) 13 (0–75) | 12 weeks SF-36 BP median (range) 51 (31–100) VAS score (0–100) 9 (0–52) | BP only SF-36 domain that worsened after the 12 weeks exercise programme, discordance with VAS that remained stable | |
| Alexanderson et al12 | Early AIM with less than 3 months of immunosuppression | Median (range) 41 (0–84) | 12 weeks Median (range) 72 (22–100) | BP scores significantly improved after exercise programme | |
| Mattar et al34 | VAS score (0–10), mean±SD Baseline: PhGA: 2.6±1.2 12 weeks: PhGA: 1.2±0.6 | Mean±SD 59±11 | 12 weeks Mean±SD 87±15 | Decreased pain after exercise programme (effect size 2.52, 46% improvement in BP score; p=0.002) | |
| Landon-Cardinal et al40 | VAS score (0–10), mean±SD | Mean±SD All: 65±26 | Mean±SD All (V2)*: 76±21 All (V3)*: 73±23 | Pain weakly correlated with physical activity at baseline (r=0.33, p<0.05) and follow-up (r=0.21, p<0.05). | |
| DM | PhGA: 3±2 | ||||
| IMNM | PhGA: 2±2 | ||||
| OM | PhGA: 3±3 | ||||
| Tiffreau et al37 | Included in study if ongoing relapse | SF-36 BP Mean±SD Programme: 50±25 Control: 48±21 VAS score (0–100) Mean±SD Programme: 36±37 Control: 29±25 | 1 year VAS Mean±SD Programme: 5±11 Control: 33±36 | No significant BP score differences between groups at 3, 6 and 12 months (figures only); discordance with pain VAS showing a significant reduction in the programme group (p=0.04) | |
| VAS; higher score, more pain | |||||
| Heikkilä et al24 | 68% stable medication for >3 months, 27% medication tapered in previous month. | VAS score (0–100) Mean±SD 26±27 | 3 weeks Mean change (%) −2.8 (95%CI −11.7 to 6.2) | No change in pain after exercise programme | |
| Varjú et al27 | N/A | VAS score (0–100) Mean±SD Early recovery: 34±27 Chronic stage: 29±24 | 3 weeks Mean±SD Early recovery: 23±24 Chronic stage: 18±16 | No change in pain after training in both groups | |
| Wallace et al39 | 6MWD (m), mean±SD Group A: 327±92 Group B: 270±78 | VAS score (0–10) Mean±SD Group A: 1±2 Group B: 1±3 | 12 weeks Mean±SD Group A: 0±3 Group B: 1±3 | No change in pain after exercise programme | |
| Rockette-Wagner et al41 | VAS score (0–10), mean±SD PhGA: 3.1±2.3 | VAS score (0–10) Mean±SD 2.7±2.6 | N/A | Moderate negative correlation between pain and physical activity (r=−0.38 to −0.40, p<0.001) | |
| NHP score (0–100); higher score, more pain | |||||
| Chung et al20 | Stable patients with low disease activity per inclusion criteria | Mean±SD Creatine: 38±33 Placebo: 30±29 | 3 and 6 months N/A | Results not shown but no significant difference in pain reported in between or within groups at 3 or 6 months | |
| Alexanderson et al15 | Early AIM (<3 months’ duration) improving on treatment per inclusion criteria | Median (IQR) Programme: 20 (14-29) Control: 0 (0–9) | 24 weeks N/A | No significant difference in pain between or within groups at 24 weeks for pain | |
| Borg scale (0–10); higher score, more pain | |||||
| Alexanderson et al14 | VAS score (0–10), mean±SD Baseline: PhGA: 0.8±1 7 weeks: PhGA: 0.8±0.9 | Median (range) 1.3 (0–3) | 7 weeks Median (range) 1.3 (0–3) | Comment in the Discussion section that patients with arthritis may require load adjustment to avoid increasing pain | |
*Mean±SD time between baseline and V1 was 94±12 days, and V1 and V2 was 96±17 days.
DM, dermatomyositis; IMNM, immune-mediated necrotising myopathy; 6MWD, 6 min walk distance; N/A, not available; NHP, Nottingham Health Profile; OM, overlap myositis; PhGA, Physician Global Assessment; PM, polymyositis; PtGA, Patient Global Assessment; SF-36 BP, 36-Item Short Form Bodily Pain; VAS, visual analogue scale.