A walking programme worked better for people without arthritis

27% of Montana adults have arthritis. Among them, **50% have activity
limitations, 16% have restricted social participation, and 23% have severe
joint pain** because of it.

Walk With Ease is a six-week, evidence-based walking programme recommended
by CDC for arthritis. In 2015 Montana added the self-directed version — a
workbook, email contact with a trainer, walking on your own, reporting weekly —
to its state employee wellness programme, with **a health insurance premium
discount** for taking part and finishing.

Participants grew from 105 in 2015 to 1,343 in 2016 to 1,622 in 2017 —
3,070 in total.

What went up

At the six-week mark, **significant increases in minutes per week spent
walking and in other physical activity**, among participants **with and without
arthritis.**

Among those not walking for exercise at the start:

Nearly everyone started, and almost nine in ten were still going half a year
later — which is the number that distinguishes a programme from a campaign.

Time spent stretching did not change for either group, which is a fair
reminder that a walking programme produces walking and not general fitness
enthusiasm.

What happened to pain, and the honest part

Pain and fatigue fell significantly at six weeks and six months for
participants who began with moderate or severe pain or fatigue — **with or
without arthritis.**

And:

**Mean pain levels among participants without arthritis increased
significantly both at the 6-week posttest and 6-month follow-up.**

Two true things about the same group. People who started in pain felt better;
the average person without arthritis reported more pain than before — which
is what tends to happen when sedentary people start exercising, and is
reported here rather than smoothed away.

The finding that widens the programme

Walk With Ease is an arthritis programme. **76% of these participants did
not have arthritis**, and the activity gains applied to them too.

**Self-directed Walk With Ease might be effective in increasing physical
activity not only among adults with arthritis, but also among persons without
arthritis.**

Which matters for how it gets offered: as a workplace wellness component open
to everyone, rather than as a clinical intervention requiring a diagnosis to
qualify for.

Who took part: 75% aged over 45, 72% women, 94% white, 63% college
graduates, 90% with no disability — a group that is not Montana, and a limit
on how far the result travels.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR.