Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents with Familial Mediterranean Fever

Thirty adolescents (15 female) with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) were evaluated regarding disease severity, lower extremity muscle strength, lower extremity functional capacity (6-minute walking distance, 10-time sit-to-stand test, and 9-step stair climb test), and disease-related quality of life. Physical activity (PA) was calculated over 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days with a tri-axial accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT). None of the participants fulfilled the PA recommendations for all 4 measured days. No effect of sex, presence of exertional leg pain, or days of the week was determined on PA (<i>P</i> > .05). Poor negative correlations were detected between total number of steps and disease duration (r_s = -0.385, <i>P</i> = .036), total number of steps and 9-step stair climb test (r_s = -0.406, <i>P</i> = .026), and total light PA time and disease duration (r_s = -0.409, <i>P</i> = .025). Our results suggest that adolescents with FMF do not achieve the recommended daily PA.