Characteristics of participants in water exercise programs compared to patients seen in a rheumatic disease clinic

PURPOSE: To determine if community-based water exercise programs are serving people with significant levels of disability and pain. METHODS: Eighty-seven participants in water exercise classes and 174 patients from a rheumatic disease clinic were matched for age, sex, and diagnosis and comparisons were made between the groups for the study variables. RESULTS: Patients had significantly higher disability, pain, global disease severity, anxiety, and depression and lower grip strength than participants. Osteoarthritis (OA) patients (n = 126) compared to OA participants (n = 63) had similar significant differences for all variables. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients' (n = 48) scores were all more severe than RA participants' scores (n = 24), and these differences were similar in magnitude to OA differences, but only global disease severity and grip strength were statistically significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Water exercise classes are reaching persons with important levels of dysfunction and pain, but more severely affected patients are underrepresented in such programs.