Occupational and leisure time physical activity in contrasting relation to ambulatory blood pressure

Background: While moderate and vigorous leisure time physical activities are well documented to decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease, several studies have demonstrated an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in workers with high occupational activity. Research on the underlying causes to the contrasting effects of occupational and leisure time physical activity on cardiovascular health is lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the relation of objective and self-report measures of occupational and leisure time physical activity with 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure (BP). Methods: Results for self-reported physical activity are based on observations in 182 workers (60% male, mean age 51 years), while valid objective physical activity data were available in 151 participants. The usual level of physical activity was assessed by 5 items from the Job Content Questionnaire (high physical effort, lifting heavy loads, rapid physical activity, awkward body positions and awkward positions of head or arms at work) and one item asking about the general level of physical activity during non-working time. On a regular working day, participants wore an ambulatory BP monitor and an accelerometer physical activity monitor during 24 h. Associations were examined by means of Analysis of Covariance. Results: Workers with an overall high level of self-reported occupational physical activity as well as those who reported to often lift heavy loads at work had a higher mean systolic BP at work, at home and during sleep. However, no associations were observed between objectively measured occupational physical activity and BP. In contrast, those with objectively measured high proportion of moderate and vigorous leisure time physical activity had a significantly lower mean systolic BP during daytime, while no differences were observed according to self-reported level of leisure time physical activity. Conclusions: These findings suggest that workers reporting static occupational physical activities, unlike general physically demanding tasks characterized by dynamic movements of large muscle groups, are related to a higher daily systolic BP, while high objective levels of moderate and vigorous leisure time physical activity are related to lower daytime systolic BP. Ambulatory systolic BP may be a physiological explanatory factor for the contrasting effects of occupational and leisure time physical activity

AB0746 EVALUATING TENDER AND SWOLLEN JOINTS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF INFLAMMATORY PAIN IN PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS USING ULTRASOUND

Background:Tender and Swollen Joint Counts (TJC, SJC) are items of disease activity scores in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Recent studies suggest that TJC do not adequately reflect ongoing inflammation in RA when using Ultrasound (US) as a reference standard, and that pain might be due to other, non-inflammatory causes.1, 2In PsA, the role of tenderness and swelling of joints for reflecting active inflammation has not been well studied so far.Objectives:To evaluate tender (TJ) and swollen joints (SJ) for the assessment of inflammation in PsA.Methods:We performed a prospective study on 83 PsA patients undergoing clinical and ultrasound examinations at two study visits scheduled 12 months apart. Tenderness and swelling were assessed for 68 and 66 joints respectively and US examinations, including grey scale (GS) and power doppler (PD) were conducted at all 68 joints. GS- (range 0-204) und PD sum scores (0-204) were calculated. At patient level, correlations were performed between TJC, SJC and clinical or US values. At joint level a GS value≥1 and/or PD value≥1 was defined as active synovitis, which was compared to whether a joint was tender, swollen or both. A generalized linear mixed model was created to assess the predictive value of TJ and SJ for active synovitis after 12 months, taking into consideration the joint site.Results:At baseline the median TJC and SJC for 83 patients was 4 (range 0-59) and 1 (0-20), respectively and the median GSS- and PD sum score was 16 (3-56) and 3 (0-31) respectively. SJC correlated with the GSS sum score (r= 0.37, p=0.004) and PD sum score (r =0.47, p<0.001), while TJC only correlated with PD sum score (r=0.33, p=0.01). TJC correlated better than SJC with patient reported outcomes like patient global assessment (TJC: r=0.57, p<0.001; SJC r=0.39, p=0.002) and health assessment questionnaire (TJC: r=0.50, p<0.001, SJC no significant correlation). Swollen joints (with or without tenderness) showed active synovitis (GSS≥1 and/or PD≥1) in 67.6% of cases, while tender joints (with or without swelling) showed signs of US activation in only 34.5%. A joint that was considered swollen at baseline was more likely to express active synovitis after 12 months (OR: 4.3, 97.5 CI: 2.9-6.2), compared to a joint that was either tender or swollen at baseline (OR: 2.8, 97.5 CI: 2.1-3.5).Conclusion:SJC are more closely linked with US signs of inflammation as compared to TJC in PsA. While swelling of a joint predicts US inflammation after a year, the information whether the joint is additionally tender or not, gives no additional predictive information.References:[1]Hammer HB, Michelsen B, Sexton J, et al. Swollen, but not tender joints, are independently associated with ultrasound synovitis: results from a longitudinal observational study of patients with established rheumatoid arthritis.Ann Rheum Dis2019;78:1179-85.[2]Hammer HB, Michelsen B, Provan SA, et al. Tender joint count may not reflect inflammatory activity in established rheumatoid arthritis patients - results from a longitudinal study.Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2018Disclosure of Interests:None declare