Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2007 , Vol 10, Issue 4
BARRIERS TO EXERCISE IN ELDERLY OSTEOARTHRITIS PATIENTS
Ankara Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Fizik Tedavi ve Reahabilitasyon ANKARA Introduction: Although exercise is known to have an important role in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), elderly individuals avoid from exercise by stating various personal, socioeconomic and environmental reasons. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that constitute obstacles for exercise in elderly patients with OA .

Materials and Method: 211 patients with OA were asked if they had been previously instructed to exercise, and if so, if they were properly informed about the benefits of exercise and whether they applied the program. Patients not performing the exercise were asked about the reasons of their lack of interest.

Results: 76.8% of the patients reported that they had previously been instructed to exercise, with however 55.9% not being supplied with information on its health benefits. It was found that 36% of patients performed the instructed exercise program. Of the non-performing patients, 56.3% gave at least one reason for their non-performance. The most common reasons for failure were the exercise being fatiguing, boring and painful.

Conclusion: Physicians should provide information on the health benefits of exercise while instructing elderly patients with OA on an exercise program. Causes should be determined and recommendations concerning these should be given, and the patients should be controlled periodically. Keywords : Osteoarthritis, Elderly,Exercise, Barrier