Document Type

Article

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate how physical function performance and arthritis-related pain relate to sensor assessed movement behaviors in a diverse sample of inactive adults with various forms of arthritis.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Columbia, SC.

Subjects

Adults with arthritis (n = 267; 60.0% Black, 92.0% female, 64.1 ± 9.4 years) from a telephone-based walking intervention.

Measures

Movement behaviors (moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, MVPA; sedentary time) were assessed with ActiGraph accelerometers at baseline. Physical function was assessed through the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and the 30-second chair stand test (30CST). Arthritis-related pain was measured through a visual analog scale.

Analysis

Multiple linear regression was used to examine the extent to which physical function performance and pain predicted movement behaviors while adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Results

Better 6MWT performance was positively associated with more MVPA per week (P < 0.001). Worse performance in the 6MWT (P < 0.001) and less pain (P = 0.02) were associated with more daily time spent sedentary. Performance in the 30CST was not significantly associated with either movement behavior.

Conclusion

These findings emphasize the importance of functional endurance and pain management in promoting physical activity and sedentary behavior among inactive adults with arthritis. Future public health interventions should prioritize strategies to enhance these components to effectively promote physical activity and less sedentary time.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171251375974

Rights

© The Author(s) 2025.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Request permissions for this article.

APA Citation

Jamieson, S., Wilcox, S., Yang, C.-H., Kim, Y., & Pellegrini, C. (2025). Physical Function and Pain as Predictors of Movement Behaviors in Adults With Arthritis. American Journal of Health Promotion. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171251375974

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