ACTIVITY PACING AND SYMPTOMS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability among older adults. Lower extremity osteoarthritis (LE-OA) is associated with symptoms of pain and fatigue that affect activity performance. Little is known about how older adults with LE-OA experience these symptoms in everyday life or the adaptations they make in response even though these adaptations are thought to influence disability. This project will investigate the relationship between adaptation and pain and fatigue symptoms by focusing on one key adaptation, activity pacing (e.g. use of strategies that balance activities with rest) and by using a real-time measurement method (e.g. acti-score devices). Sixty females aged 55-80 will be recruited from the Research Participant Program of the University of Michigan s Geriatric Center: 40 with pain-limiting LE-OA and 20 healthy controls. All interested respondents who come for screening will be informed about the study and asked to sign the consent form. Knee or hip osteoarthritis will be determined first through radiographic confirmation. Pain-limiting hip or knee osteoarthritis will then be determined by using the American College of Rheumatology s clinical criteria. Participants will answer basic questions regarding demographics and physical function and will participate in physical performance assessments of gait, strength, and balance. Then participants will receive instruction on wearing the acti-score devices. Devices will be worn on the wrist for five days and participants will be prompted at five time-points throughout the day. At each time-point, participants will input their frequency of using activity pacing and pain and fatigue levels into the device. All data collected will be compiled into computer databases in which participants will only be identified from an ID number. Signed informed consent forms and a master list that matches ID numbers with participant names will be kept in a locked drawer in the principal investigator s office. The specific aims of this project are 1) To examine the experience of LE-OA-related symptoms over a five-day period, the diurnal (e.g., daily) variations of pain and fatigue levels of older women with lower extremity OA (LE-OA) will be compared to healthy women controls and 2) To examine the relationship between activity pacing, pain, and fatigue among older women with LE-OA and the control group over a five day testing period.