Aerobic and muscle-strengthening guideline adherence and mobility limitation among adults with arthritis in the United States: a pooled cross-sectional analysis, 2020–2024
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Objective: To compare mutually exclusive leisure-time aerobic and muscle-strengthening guideline-adherence patterns in relation to mobility limitation among U.S. adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Methods: We pooled cross-sectional data from the 2020, 2022, and 2024 National Health Interview Survey in the United States for adults aged 18 years or older with doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Leisure-time activity was classified as neither guideline met, muscle-strengthening only, aerobic only, or both guidelines met. Survey-weighted modified Poisson regression estimated adjusted prevalence ratios for any difficulty walking or climbing steps, and marginal standardization estimated adjusted prevalences and absolute differences. Results: Among 22,344 adults, adjusted mobility-limitation prevalence was 53.8% for neither guideline, 50.3% for muscle-strengthening only, 39.9% for aerobic only, and 37.2% for both guidelines. Compared with neither guideline, meeting both guidelines was associated with lower prevalence (prevalence ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.58, 0.66) and an absolute difference of -16.6 percentage points. Aerobic-only adherence was also associated with lower prevalence, whereas the muscle-strengthening-only estimate was closer to 1.0. Conclusions: Distinguishing aerobic and muscle-strengthening adherence revealed patterns not evident from a single active-inactive classification. The cross-sectional design precludes conclusions about temporal order or causality.
Source: Preventive Medicine Reports
Language: English
Topic: Physical Activity and Health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,610
OpenAlex ID: W7224244954