Physical activity measured by the SenseWear Armband in women with rheumatoid arthritis." Phys Ther 91(9

Background. Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often are sedentary and have an increased risk of developing comorbid conditions. Women with RA are more likely to experience challenges in maintaining an active lifestyle over their life span than men with RA or people who are healthy. As the benefits of physical activity (PA) are well known, measuring PA accurately in this population is important. Objectives. The purposes of this study were: (1) to characterize PA as measured with the SenseWear Armband (SWA) in women with RA and (2) to determine the measurement time frame to obtain consistent estimates of PA and daily energy expenditure (EE) in women with RA. Design. This was a cross-sectional study. Methods. Participants wore the SWA for 7 days. Measurements of daily total energy expenditure (TEE), physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) during activ-ities at or above 1 metabolic equivalent (MET) level (PAEE1MET), PAEE during activities at or above 2 METs (PAEE2METs), PAEE during activities at or above 3 METs (PAEE3METs), and number of steps were obtained