Background: RMDs are autoinflammatory diseases with severe symptoms and comorbidities. The impact of RMDs on the quality of life is extremely high and can lead to disability and high levels of depression.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine whether (compared to inactivity) physical activity is associated with better health outcomes in patients with RMDs on QoL and Depression. Furthermore, to determine the type of preferred physical activity by the patients.

Methods: 112 RMDs patients participated in the study. SF-36 to measure QoL, PHQ-9 to measure Depression and IPAQ SF to measure PA were used. The (IBM) SPSS 25 Statistics was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive analysis conducted to describe quantitative variables of interests. Data normality was verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and one-way ANOVA was performed to determine the association of PA with QoL and Depression.

Results: Data was analyzed for 112 patients [24,1% RA, 19.6% Fibromyalgia, and 17% SLE; mean age 50.5 (SD=12.6), minimum 19 and maximum 15, 85.7% female, and 59.8% living in large metropolitan areas]. The largest percentage of the sample was PA inactive, and the most common type of PA was House Cleaning. Cronbach’s α for SF-36’s eight health dimensions (physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health problems, role limitation due to personal or emotional problems, energy/fatigue, emotional well-being, social functioning, bodily pain, and general health perceptions) range between 0.81 and 0.93. As PHQ 9, 32.1% had moderated severe or severe depression and as per IPAQ 39.3% percent were inactive. Mann-Whitney U tests compared average RAND SF 36 (eight health dimensions) and PHQ-9 scores between “inactive” and “non inactive” patients. Irrespective of the type of disease, significant differences were observed in Role limitations due to personal or emotional problems (z=-2.165, p=0.030), energy/fatigue (z=-2.094, p=0.036), and general health perception (z=-2.018, p=0.044), as well in depression (z=-2.632, p=0.008)- in all cases indicated poorer health outcomes in the inactive Group. One-way ANOVA showed that “Minimally Active” and “HEPA Active” groups did not differ significantly in their association with health outcomes.

Conclusion: Patients who were as minimum “Minimally Active” had better health and depression outcomes than those “Inactive”.

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Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.

© The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ). Neither EULAR nor the publisher make any representation as to the accuracy of the content. The authors are solely responsible for the content in their abstract including accuracy of the facts, statements, results, conclusion, citing resources etc.