A formative evaluation of a health education — water exercise program for class II and III adult rheumatoid arthritis patients

✍ Scribed by Cecelia Dial; Richard A. Windsor

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 728 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0738-3991
• DOI: 10.1016/0738-3991(85)90017-5

✦ Synopsis

There is little scientific evidence to support the use of water-related rehabilitation programs for individuals with arthritis. This study was designed to conduct a preliminary assessment of the short-term impact of an S-week, health education-water exercise program for 12 adults with rheumatoid arthritis. A one group pretest-posttest with repeated measures design was employed.

Patient evaluation techniques included standard goniometric measurement of active range of motion of major joints, grip strength, timed functional tasks and a self-report questionnaire.

All participants were evaluated on four separate occasions. The results of the evaluations revealed that, subjectively, all participants expressed physical and psychosocial improvement. Significant improvement for 8 of 12 selected physical impact variables was observed at the end of the program and for at least 4 weeks postprogram. A sufficient degree of impact was noted to recommend proposing a larger, more rigorous evaluation study.