The Effects of a Community-based Water Exercise Programme on Health Outcomes for Chinese People With Rheumatic Disease

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a community-based water exercise programme (CBWEP) on physical disability, quality of life, and confidence in performing exercise for people with rheumatic disease. A multiple pretest, within-subject design was used. All subjects participated in a 4-week CBWEP followed by an 8-week maintenance period. Physical disability, pain intensity, quality of life, and level of confidence in performing the exercises were evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire at baseline, pre-class, post-class, and at follow-up. Thirty-one subjects (30 female, 1 male) participated in the study. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a statistically significant difference in pain intensity (p < 0.001) as well as in six domains of the SF-36 questionnaire: general health (p < 0.001), physical function (p = 0.001), role-physical (p = 0.001), role-emotional (p = 0.001), vitality (p < 0.001), and bodily pain (p = 0.006). There was also an improvement in confidence in performing the exercises (p < 0.001) and exercise participation at the end of the study. A CBWEP and continued maintenance classes may be beneficial for pain reduction and improvement in quality of life. These findings provided evidence for the value of this type of community exercise programme for people with rheumatic disease in Hong Kong.