Ersin Bestaş1, Ümit Dündar1, Tülay Köken2, Buğra Koca2, Hilal Yeşil1

1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyon, Turkey
2Clinical Biochemistry, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyon, Turkey

Keywords: Exercise, quality of life, sclerostin, sleep quality, spondyloarthritis.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to compare the effects of balneotherapy, water-based exercise (WBE), and land-based exercise (LBE) on disease activity, symptoms, sleep quality, quality of life, and serum sclerostin level (SSL) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Patients and methods: Between January 2019 and January 2020, a total of 60 patients (35 males, 25 females; mean age: 40.9±11.2 years; range, 18 to 55 years) who were diagnosed with AS were randomly divided into the balneotherapy (n=20), WBE (n=20), and LBE (n=20) groups (20 sessions of treatment in groups of five to six patients). The patients were evaluated before treatment and at 4 and 12 weeks using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score-C-reactive protein (ASDAS-CRP), Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and SSL were measured.

Results: Statistically significant improvements in the BASDAI, BASFI, MASES, BASMI, ASQoL, FSS, and ASDAS-CRP scores were observed in all groups at 4 and 12 weeks of follow-up (p<0.05). A significant improvement in sleep latency was seen in the balneotherapy and WBE groups. Changes in SSL were not statistically significant in any group (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Balneotherapy, WBE, and LBE are effective in the treatment of AS, and the beneficial effects may last for at least 12 weeks.

Citation: Bestaş E, Dündar Ü, Köken T, Koca B, Yeşil H. The comparison of effects of balneotherapy, water-based and land-based exercises on disease activity, symptoms, sleep quality, quality of life and serum sclerostin level in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A prospective, randomized study. Arch Rheumatol 2022;37(2):159-168.

Ethics Committee Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Ethics Committee (No: 2019/2). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

Study concept, acquisition of data, critical revision: E.B., Ü.D., T.K., B.K., H.Y.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Financial Disclosure

This study was supported by the scientific research projects unit of our university with the project number 19.TUS.001.