TOPLINE: 

A personalised, baseline-guided 8-week exercise programme improved trunk strength and mobility, oxygen pulse, and ventilatory efficiency while reducing disease activity in adults with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers evaluated the effects of a personalised exercise programme on trunk strength and mobility and cardiorespiratory fitness in 30 adults with axSpA (mean age, 42 years; 47% men) recruited from Ghent University Hospital, Belgium.
• Participants underwent baseline cardiopulmonary exercise testing and standardised trunk strength and mobility assessments using David Back Concept devices.
• All participants completed an 8-week supervised exercise programme (two sessions per week), comprising aerobic training and progressive trunk strength and mobility exercises tailored to each patient's baseline data.
• Deficits were quantified by comparing individual patient values with reference data from a matched healthy Finnish reference population.
• The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI; cervical rotation, lumbar flexion, lumbar lateral flexion, intermalleolar distance, and tragus-to-wall distance), chest expansion, and cardiorespiratory parameters were assessed pre- and post-intervention.

TAKEAWAY:

• The personalised exercise programme led to a reduction in strength deficits by a mean of 14.1% across all assessed movement directions and in mobility deficits by a mean of 14.88%, with greater improvements in lateral flexion and rotation (decreases in lateral flexion and rotation deficits of approximately 27.2% and 22.4%, respectively).
• Cardiorespiratory fitness improved significantly, with increases in anaerobic threshold, oxygen pulse, and ventilatory efficiency (P < .05 for all).
• Disease activity, assessed using the BASDAI, decreased after the exercise programme (P = .021). A decreasing trend was also observed for the BASMI.

IN PRACTICE:

"[The] results are promising, especially considering the simplicity and short duration of the 8-week intervention," the authors wrote.

SOURCE: 

The study was led by Sophie De Mits, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. It was published online on December 31, 2025, in RMD Open.

LIMITATIONS: 

The sample size was small, and the intervention period was short. A control group was not included. Positive bias may have occurred because only motivated individuals who believed in the benefits of exercise therapy chose to participate.

DISCLOSURES: 

The study did not receive any specific funding. No relevant conflicts of interest were disclosed by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.