Trial reportPhysical therapy2020
High-Intensity Exercise Improves Fatigue, Sleep, and Mood in Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Physical therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise prescription for axial spondyloarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- [Rheuma in motion-A positioning of exercise and movement therapy in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2025Pooled it
- Quality of reporting and nature of harms in clinical trials on supervised exercise in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or axial spondyloarthritis.Rheumatology international · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of physical activity interventions on reducing perceived fatigue among adults with chronic conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Korean treatment recommendations for patients with axial spondyloarthritis.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2023Guideline
- Pooled it
- Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Sleep: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- High-intensity exercise improves multidimensional fatigue and health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized controlled study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Comparison of Yoga with exercise in ankylosing spondylitis on mobility and functional capacity.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2024Trial
- Evidence on physical activity-sleep associations in axial spondyloarthritis: a scoping review of current findings.Rheumatology international · 2026Article
- Observational
- High-intensity exercise for maintained health-enhancing physical activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised controlled trial.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- Personalized physical activity recommendations for people with axial spondyloarthritis using wearable activity tracker data: an exploratory study.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Sleep disorders in rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis.Rheumatology international · 2025Review
- Literature review of non-pharmacological treatment for patients with axial spondyloarthritis.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2025Review
- High-quality research on physical therapy in psoriatic arthritis is needed: a systematic review.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2024Review
- Tolerability of low to moderate biomechanical stress during leisure sport activity in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.RMD open · 2023Article
- Current Status of Biological Treatment in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients and Some Related Factors.Materia socio-medica · 2023Article
- Korean treatment recommendations for patients with axial spondyloarthritis.Journal of rheumatic diseases · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAlthough exercise is recommended in the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpa), the focus has been on flexibility, and the effect of high-intensity exercises is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity exercises on fatigue, sleep, and mood in patients with axSpA.
methodsIn this secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, participants were recruited from outpatient clinics at 4 hospitals in Scandinavia. A total of 100 patients with axSpA were randomized to either an exercise group (n = 50) or a control group (n = 50). High-intensity exercise was provided 3 times per week for 3 months and supervised by a physical therapist. The controls received no intervention. Measurements were self-reported at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months: fatigue, using the Fatigue Severity Scale (range = 0-7, 7 = worst, ≥5 = severe); vitality, using the RAND 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36, range = 0-100, 100 = best); sleep, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (range = 0-21, 21 = worst, >5 = poor quality); mood, using the General Health Questionnaire 12 (range = 0-36, 36 = worst); and general health, using the EUROQoL (range = 0-100, 100 = best).
resultsA total of 38 participants (76%) in the exercise group followed ≥80% of the exercise protocol. At 3 months, there was a significant beneficial effect on fatigue (mean group differences = -0.4, 95% CI = -0.7 to -0.1), vitality (5.0, 95% CI = 1.1 to 10.5), mood (-2, 95% CI = -3.7 to -0.04), and general health (9.0, 95% CI = 3.3 to 14.7) but no effect on sleep (-1.1, 95% CI = -2.1 to 0.2). Compared with the control group, the exercise group had a reduced rate of severe fatigue and poor sleep. No differences were seen between the groups at 12 months.
conclusionsA 3-month exercise program had a beneficial effect on fatigue, sleep, mood, and general health in patients with axSpA at the end of the intervention; however, no long-term effects were seen. IMPACT: High-intensity cardiorespiratory and strength exercises should be considered as important in exercise programs for patients with axSpA.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.