Effect of Subthreshold Stimulation on Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Effect of Subthreshold Stimulation on Fatigability, Lower Limb Muscle Function and Strength, and Inflammatory Blood Markers in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Study.

The study will include 2 groups. The study group will receive subthreshold stimulation, while the control group will receive sham treatment.

This study will investigate the effect of subthreshold stimulation on fatigue-related parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This study will include 2 groups Study and the control group. The outcome measures will include Fatigability, Lower Limb Muscle Function and Strength, and Inflammatory Blood Markers. The measurements will be performed at the baseline, after 8 weeks, and after 12 weeks (follow-up).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Sixty patients with rheumatoid arthritis based on physician diagnosis and referral.

  • The patients' ages ranged from 30 to 55 (Tedeschi et al., 2013).
  • Body mass index ranged from 25-30 kg/m2.
  • Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 5 years ago.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients had chronic heart failure, cancer, chronic kidney disease, infection, and any other autoimmune disease (García-Morales et al., 2020).

  • Patients had unstable ischemic heart disease or arrhythmia (Lange et al., 2019).
  • Patients had joint surgery within 6 months before inclusion which did not allow them to perform physical activity as arthroplasty (Lange et al., 2019).
  • Patients had received biologics for RA treatments (Lange et al., 2019).