Exercise non-compliance in people with arthritis - RMACSM

Another workshop offered at the last RMACSM conference dealt with the issue of exercise non-compliance in people with arthritis. According to Dr. Gyurcsik, behavioral strategies, including exercise, reduced morbidity/mortality due to arthritis at almost half the cost as other medical treatments. However, non-compliance was a big problem with these individuals. Researches done by the speaker showed that most important factor that distinguished people with arthritis who exercised regularly from who didn't was that they had higher confidence in their ability to overcome challenges (called self-regulatory efficacy or SRE) than their counterparts. It was also interesting to note that pain intensity and barriers to exercise did not consistently prevent people with arthritis from exercising. Moreover, when people with arthritis accepted pain more easily, their SRE increased, which in turn improved their exercise compliance. This presentation was a great example of how our psychological health influenced our physical health and vice versa.