Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Journal

Background and Purpose: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic progressive inflammatory joint
disease that leads to irreversible damage to the joint. It often affects women of childbearing age.
Based on the evidence, the disease activity is undercontrol during pregnancy in many cases. The
purpose of this case study was to document the effect of physical therapy interventions (prenatal
physiotherapy) on the disease severity in a pregnant lady with rheumatoid arthritis. RADAI 5
scale was used.
Case description: The patient was a 32-year-old pregnant female who was enrolled for virtual
prenatal physiotherapy sessions. The intervention of the client included upper and lower limb
strengthening, breast lifting or chest toning exercises, pelvic floor muscle training, low impact
cardio exercises, postural and flexibility exercises. The patient received physiotherapy thrice a
week from her 23rd week of pregnancy to the 35th week.The patient’s RADAI 5 score improved
from 28 to 15 by the end of the 35th week. There was a reduction in joint stiffness and pain after
a few weeks of the sessions.
Conclusion: This case report demonstrated the purpose of how prenatal physiotherapy sessions
could be beneficial to help a pregnant lady with rheumatoid arthritis improve her quality of life.
Further research should focus on the assessment of fatigue and functional activities in addition
to the disease severity for pregnant patients with rheumatoid arthritis.