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© 1993 British Society for Rheumatology

research-article

THE EFFECT OF A LONG-TERM EXERCISE PROGRAMME ON THE RHEUMATOID HAND

S. W. BRIGHTON*,, J. E. LUBBE{dagger} and C. A. VAN DER MERWE{ddagger}

*Departments of Rheumatology, University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa
{dagger}Departments of Physiotherapy, University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa
{ddagger}Departments of Quantitative Management, University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa

Correspondence to: Correspondence to S. W. Brighton, Department of Rheumatology, PO Box 667. University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Forty-four female patients with sero-positive active RA participated in a 48-month trial to assess the effect of simple hand exercises. Twenty-two patients in the test group were given a daily exercise regime of six exercises. The control group were not given any exercises. At the end of 48 months there was a statistically significant improvement in grip strength (P<0.0001) and pincer grip strength (P<0.0005) in the test group. There was a significant deterioration in the control group (P<0.0000). A simple exercise programme is beneficial for the rheumatoid hand as far as grip and pincer grip strength are concerned.

KEY WORDS: Rheumatoid hand, Exercise, Grip strength, Pincer grip strength, Metacarpophalangeal joints, Proximal inter-phalangeal joints


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