Promoting Engagement in Physical Activity in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: Proof of Concept Study

People with rheumatoid arthritis have indicated that they would like better support to remain physically active following diagnosis and would welcome a physical activity programmes delivered outside of a secondary care setting by a physiotherapist. With patient input, and based upon previous research in other long term conditions, a physical activity intervention was developed by the researchers for delivery by musculoskeletal physiotherapists in a primary care setting. This proposed proof of concept study will investigate the new intervention and inform a future randomised controlled pilot trial. Four Band 6 musculoskeletal physiotherapists will be trained to deliver the intervention. Subsequently up to 32 patients with a recent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (6 -24 months previously) will be recruited. Each physiotherapist will deliver the 12-week intervention package to a group of 6-8 participants. The participants will be asked to complete some outcome measures at the beginning of the 12-week intervention and again at the end. Following the 12-week programme some of the patients will be asked what they thought of the programme and the outcome measures and whether they have any suggestions for improvement. Those that did and did not complete the programme will be included to ensure a wide range of views. The treating physiotherapists will also be asked about their experiences of delivering the programme as well as what they thought of the training. Based upon these findings the programme will be refined and if appropriate further funding sought to carry out a pilot randomised controlled trial.