ABSTRACT
Background: Exercise has been reported to be beneficial in reducing pain and fatigue, as well as improving mood, in elderly adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). However, longer bouts of exercise have been linked to increase in fatigue and pain level in elderly adults. There has been little investigation into the immediate effects of breaking exercise into shorter, more frequent bouts, otherwise known as exercise snacking on physical fatigue, mood and pain in elderly adults with KOA.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate impact of exercise snacking versus continuous exercise on physical fatigue, mood, and pain level in elderly adults with KOA.
Methods: This was a randomized experimental study, with thirty-seven (37) participants aged 60 years and above with KOA. Participants were recruited and randomly assigned into a five bouts of 2 minutes exercise snacking and 10 minutes continuous exercise groups, with the bicycle ergometer as the exercise mode. Physical fatigue, mood and pain of participants were assessed at baseline and immediately after the exercise using Numerical Fatigue Rating Scale (NFRS), Visual Analog Mood Scale (VAMS), and Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) respectively. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics of Wilcoxon Rank test, MannWhitney U and ANCOVA were used to analyse the data with p value set at 0.05.
Results: The mean age was 66.65 ± 5.49 years for the exercise snacking group and 67.24 ± 5.53 years for the continuous exercise group. There was a significant difference in physical fatigue, mood and pain between baseline and post intervention (p<0.001) within group. However, there was a significant difference in physical fatigue (p<0.001) and pain level (p=0.048) post intervention between groups with the exercise snacking group having a significant reduction in fatigue and pain level compared to the continuous group, but there was no significant difference in mood between groups.
Conclusion: Exercise snacking yielded significant improvements in physical fatigue and pain in elderly with KOA. However, both exercise snacking and continuous aerobic exercise were comparable in their immediate effects on mood in elderly adults with KOA.
