Table 1.
Participant characteristics (n = 20)
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Age, mean ± SD | 52.6 ± 12.9 |
| Gender, n | |
| Female | 12 |
| Male | 8 |
| Ethnicity, n | |
| Oceania | 4 |
| European | 8 |
| North/East Asian | 2 |
| Central/South/South-East Asian | 2 |
| North Africa and Middle Eastern | 2 |
| Other (South African, Caribbean) | 2 |
| Languages spoken at home, n | |
| English | 14 |
| Mandarin | 1 |
| Cantonese | 1 |
| Tagalog | 1 |
| Dari | 1 |
| French | 1 |
| Arabic | 1 |
| Highest level of education completed, n | |
| High school | 6 |
| Diploma/College | 4 |
| University degree (Bachelors) | 5 |
| University degree (Masters/Honours) | 5 |
| Work status, n | |
| No work | 9 |
| Part-time | 3 |
| Full-time | 8 |
| Disease duration, mean ± SD | 9.5 ± 8.9 |
| Disease duration, n | |
| < 5 years | 9 |
| 5 to 10 years | 3 |
| > 10 to 20 years | 6 |
| > 20 years | 2 |
| Disease subtype, n | |
| Dermatomyositis | 6 |
| Anti-synthetase syndrome | 5 |
| Polymyositis | 3 |
| Overlap myositis | 3 |
| Immune mediated necrotizing myopathy | 3 |
| Current medications, n | |
| Prednisone (range 2.5–25 mg, median 10 mg) | 10 |
| Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) | 10 |
| Methotrexate | 8 |
| Mycophenolate | 7 |
| Rituximab | 5 |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 1 |
| Other (Esomeprazole, Tacrolimus, Upadacitinib, Azathioprine) | 5 |
| IIM specific organ involvement, n | |
| Muscle* | 19 |
| Lung | |
| Interstitial lung disease | 10 |
| Pulmonary hypertension | 3 |
| Skin | 11 |
| Joint | 3 |
| Disease status, n | |
| Clinically stable/in remission | 11 |
| Normal Creatine Kinase (CK) <250 units/L | 11 |
| Stable Manual Muscle Test (MMT26) | 4 |
| Active disease | 5 |
| Elevated CK (range 286–1877 units/L) | 3 |
| Skin** | 1 |
| Lung | 1 |
| No data | 4 |
| Major comorbidities, n | |
| Osteopenia/osteoporosis | 7 |
| Osteoarthritis | 4 |
| Heart disease | 4 |
| Diabetes | 3 |
| Hypertension | 3 |
| Obesity | 3 |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 2 |
| Persistent soft tissue infection | 1 |
| Exercise frequency, n | |
| No exercise | 6 |
| 1 day per week | 2 |
| 2–3 days per week | 9 |
| 4–5 days per week | 0 |
| > 5 days per week | 3 |
| Exercise type, n | |
| Aerobic (exercise bike, walking, swimming) | 8 |
| Strengthening (gym-based or home-based, resistance bands/weights) | 3 |
| Range of motion (yoga, stretching) | 1 |
| All the above | 2 |
*1 participant had amyopathic dermatomyositis
**Participant with amyopathic dermatomyositis