NCT06083090

Effects of Yoga Therapy in Rehabilitation Compared to Physiotherapy in Moderate Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSPA)

Effects of Yoga Therapy in Rehabilitation Compared to Physiotherapy in Moderate Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSPA): a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Study.

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 72 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of yoga therapy in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSPA). On the other hand, studies conducted in other chronic rheumatisms such as low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis or other conditions such as cancer have shown that yogatherapy can have a effective action on the physical and psychological level. Yogatherapy is a non-drug "body-mind" approach that would be likely to improve the physical symptoms (pain, stiffness, in particular spinal and pelvic), internal organs (colitis) and psychological symptoms as well as the perception of fatigue of people with axSPA. A 2021 study showed the feasibility and acceptability of regular yogatherapy practice in patients with axSPA. It is therefore necessary to conduct randomized controlled studies to assess the effectiveness of this management strategy.

Detailed description

The term axial spondyloarthritis (axSPA) encompasses various inflammatory diseases of the spine, including ankylosing spondyloarthritis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSPA). axSPA is a chronic inflammatory joint disease affecting the axial skeleton. It is the second cause of chronic inflammatory rheumatism and affects 0.5 to 2% of the general population. It generally affects young adults, with a male predominance (2 men for 1 woman). axSPA can lead to physical consequences (fatigue, pain, stiffness, with in particular serious damage to the spine causing functional impairment, etc.) and psychological consequences (anxiety, depression). It is responsible for a disability and a mediocre quality of life with, moreover, a significant socio-economic impact. In France, it is one of the long-term illnesses and may require heavy treatment. The medicinal therapeutic side, taken care of by rheumatologists specializing in this pathology, has evolved a lot (from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs \[NSAIDs\] to anti-tumor necrosis factor \[anti-TNF\] and anti-interleukin 17 \[anti-IL 17\]), allowing notable improvements. It is now a question of also developing the non-drug therapeutic side, to contribute to improving the quality of life, thus meeting the demand of patients with chronic diseases. Information and therapeutic education occupy an important place, with results in favor of an improvement in the management of these diseases. The recommendations emphasize that the non-pharmacological treatment of axSPA should include regular physical exercise, that individual and group physical therapy sessions should be considered as well as self-exercises. Several randomized controlled trials have shown that physical therapy with various modalities has positive effects on pain and AS function. Physical therapy therefore also seems to play an important role in the management of patients. It prevents stiffness and improves functional capacity and quality of life. Physical therapy should be initiated as soon as axSPA is diagnosed and regular exercise should form the basis of management. The review by Zochling et al. as well as a systematic review showed that exercises have positive effects on BASFI, BASDAI functions, pain and mobility. A Cochrane review on the role of physiotherapy interventions in SPA also concluded that physical therapy was beneficial. Physical activity, self-exercises and physiotherapy are part of the 2022 recommendations of the French Society of Rheumatology. Beneficial effects on disease activity were observed in axSPA, with good tolerance for intense exercise. Recently an Indian team evaluated the effectiveness of online yogatherapy with 60 min structured modules on patients with axSPA for 3 months, with a significant improvement in the BASDAI score.

Conditions

• Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSPA)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Yogatherapy	The experimental arm will benefit from support by a physiotherapist trained in yoga, in a group for ten weeks with two weekly sessions of approximately 1 hour each. A new yoga program adapted for the axSPA will be implemented.
PROCEDURE	Physiotherapy	The comparator arm will benefit from support by a physiotherapist, in groups for ten weeks at the rate of two weekly sessions of approximately 1 hour each. An already existing program adapted for the axSPA will be implemented.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-08-27
• Primary completion: 2028-02-06
• Completion: 2028-08-27
• First posted: 2023-10-13
• Last updated: 2025-10-01

Locations

5 sites across 1 country: France