SPARK Trial Personalized Digital Exercise Program for Adults with Recently Diagnosed Axial Spondyloarthritis to Reduce Disease Activity

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a digital, personalized exercise program designed to reduce disease activity in adults recently diagnosed with axial spondyloarthritis axSpA. This controlled trial assesses whether remote exercise supervision through the SPARK app, combined with patient education videos, can improve health outcomes. The study compares this approach to usual care in patients who have not used biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and who have active disease. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups one receiving a personalized exercise program with remote coaching and another receiving usual care. The exercise program includes high intensity interval training HIIT, muscular strength exercises, and moderate aerobic activity spread over three days per week, with the goal of 20 minutes of HIIT weekly at 85-95% of maximal heart rate. The program is remotely delivered via the SPARK application, with weekly coaching sessions and exercise data tracked by a sports watch. Throughout the 6-month trial, participants undergo assessments including disease activity measures like ASDAS and BASDAI, physical fitness tests, psychological wellbeing scales, and safety evaluations with physical exams and MRI scans. Medication use and adverse events are also monitored. The primary outcome is disease activity at 3 months, with further evaluations at 6 months to measure the effects of the exercise intervention on health, wellbeing, and physical function.

A Digital Exercise Intervention in Patients With Spondyloarthritis