Step by step: walking program shows promise for lupus fatigue

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Rheumatologists' diagnosis of SLE. Diagnoses will be confirmed in medical records before recruiting individuals in clinical settings. Diagnoses for all participants in the existing LOS and CLUES cohorts have already been verified. 2. English or Spanish verbal fluency. 3. Ability to travel to study site for the three in-person visits. 4. Presence of ≥moderate levels of fatigue. The PROMIS Fatigue Short Form 8a will be administered for screening47. This scale is available in English and Spanish and has a raw score range of 0 - 32. Moderate fatigue will be defined as a raw score ≥12. In PARAFit, only \~11% of potential participants were screened out because of low levels of fatigue. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Currently engaging in regular exercise. Current exercise levels will be assessed with the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), a validated self-report measure of activity 48, during screening. Individuals meeting the IPAQ criterion for high activity will be excluded. For comparison, in one of our previous studies in SLE, fewer than 25% reported high levels of activity according to the IPAQ. 2. Non-ambulatory or presence of a condition or comorbid disease that would limit the ability to engage in walking (e.g., myocardial infarction in past 6 months, stroke, congestive heart failure, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Individuals who are able to walk with an assistive device such as a cane will be eligible, per medical advice. 3. Planned surgery during the study period. Depending on the procedure and timing, these individuals may be eligible at a later date. 4. Currently pregnant. While pregnancy does not prohibit exercise, it may lead to confounding of fatigue, either during pregnancy or after delivery.