The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans were developed by theUnited States Department of Health and Human Services and based on scientificevidence about the long-term benefits of routine physical activity for individuals age sixand older
Shows the guidelines of physical activity and what type is recommended for arthritis patients.
Published literature confirms the significant burden, in terms of both costs andincreasing prevalence, of arthritis. The literature also confirms the high rate of physicalinactivity among adults with arthritis and provides a variety of risk factors and possiblereasons for the observed inactivity. The burdensome and costly public health implicationsof inactivity or insufficient activity among adults with arthritis are of great concern andworthy of action, not only because arthritis affects more than 52.5 million people in theU.S. (CDC, 2013a), but also because people with arthritis commonly have other seriousco-occurring conditions such as heart disease (Bolen et al., 2009), diabetes (Bolen et al.,2008), and high blood pressure
Further outlines the increased medical costs the participants of the study already have to deal with, and shows how arthritis is different/
. The term “arthritis” is used to describe more than 100rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints and the surrounding tissues, andincludes conditions ranging from osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) tofibromyalgia and lupus. The disease is characterized by pain, stiffness, and physicaldisability and can be progressive if left unmanaged
Gives a solid definition of arthritis and the other diseases it commonly comes with
Physical activity is one of four public health interventions proven effective for themanagement of arthritis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] & ArthritisFoundation [AF], 2010). It contributes to improved mood, increased physical functioning,reduced arthritis pain and disability, and delayed progression of the disease
explains off the bat that it is formally recognized that physical activity is a great benefit for those suffering with arthritis
Potential confounders such as age, race, gender, BMI, insurance, heart disease, highblood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and obesity were included in the model. Logisticregressions, via SAS 9.3, were used to predict savings in total healthcare expendituresbased on PA status and compute odds ratios
Shows that some of the figures were based off an educated guess, since the participants were elderly and already had existing medical costs.
For example, when living longer chances increase to ever need expensive nursing home care due to Alzheimer disease. Therefore, costs of healthcare resources used later in life should be taken into account in (reviews of) costing studies
This further shows the studies use of differing variables and how they can influence the final results of the study, especially in a field of research such as this where every participant might have different costs.
Physical inactivity is associated with higher healthcare costs in the general population in the short-term. However, in the long-term aversion of diseases related with physical inactivity may increase longevity and, as a consequence, healthcare costs in life-years gained. Future studies should use a broad definition of costs, including costs in life-years gained and costs related to physical-activity-related injuries.
This section is important as it gives the results of the study and also offers advice for a study aiming to verify these results.
This systematic review aims to describe the relation between physical inactivity and healthcare costs, by taking into account healthcare costs of physical-inactivity-related diseases (common practice), including physical-activity-related injuries (new) and costs in life-years gained due to avoiding diseases
Like the study from sciencedirect, this study also takes different variables into account and makes sure data is accurately represented.
Differences in median annual costs for women in each of the activity and sitting categories, modeled using data from all surveys, are shown in Table 3. Over this 9-year period, the median cost for inactive participants was AU$162 per year higher than for the most active participants (adjusted for survey year and area of residence). After further adjustment for BMI, depressive symptoms, and smoking status, this difference was reduced to AU$94 per annum.
This study was extremely comprehensive and took into account many different variables to show that prolonged inactivity was a leading cause of increased medical costs even when rooted out of other factors.
Activity patterns were defined on the basis of dichotomous physical activity and sitting time variables: (1) active (≥40 MET-minutes/day)/low sitting time (<8 hours/day); (2) active/high sitting time (≥8 hours/day); (3) inactive (<40 MET-minutes/day)/low sitting time; and (4) inactive/high sitting time.
Shows that the amount of activity time per participant was noted in MET minutes
A previous study by our group found an interaction with BMI in the relationship between physical activity and health care costs in middle-aged women: costs were lower for overweight active women than for healthy-weight inactive women.10 However, that study did not include measures of sitting time and was cross-sectional in design.
This shows that a previous study had already found similar results but did not include the full amount of variables that such a study should contain
Physical inactivity is associated with numerous physical and mental health conditions and accounts for approximately 1.5%−3.0% of the total direct health care costs in developed countries.1 It is estimated that a 10% reduction in the prevalence of inactivity could potentially reduce health care expenditures by 96 million Australian dollars (AU$) and 150 million Canadian dollars per year in Australia and Canada (equating to 99 and 129 million U.S. dollars, respectively).2, 3 Despite the potential health and economic benefits, only about half the population in developed countries meet the recommended levels of physical activity.4, 5,
Immediately outlines that physical inactivity is a key cause of increasing healthcare costs, and outlines this as one of the leading factors of healthcare costs in developed countries.