Exercise programs are beneficial for people with a type of arthritis affecting the spine - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) - Norwegian researchers report, although it is not clear which type of protocol is best.

Dr. Hanne Dagfinrud of the University of Oslo and colleagues reviewed of 43 studies involving exercise and AS and eventually scrutinized data on a total of 561 patients in six trials. The results are published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

In the appraisal, two of the reviewed trials compared individualized home exercise versus no intervention. The results of these two trials provided low-quality evidence in favor of exercise. No effect on pain intensity was seen.

Three trials compared supervised group physiotherapy with an individualized home exercise program. The reviewers found moderate-quality evidence for the superiority of the supervised programs in the patients’ assessment of how much they were helped, and in spinal mobility. Again, no differences in pain intensity were noted.

The remaining trial involved 3 weeks of inpatient hydrotherapy and exercise therapy followed by weekly group physiotherapy. This was compared with group physiotherapy alone. The team found moderate-quality evidence for the superiority of the combination approach in terms of improving pain, physical function and patients’ assessment.

The investigators call for further research to examine other physiotherapy interventions that are often used, but conclude that physiotherapy, particularly supervised physiotherapy, appears to be “beneficial for people with AS.”

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, October 2005.