Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with axSpA participating in exercise therapy

Age, years

36.78 ± 1.09

36.91 ± 1.16

36.61 ± 2.03

ns

Gender (% female)

32.5

18.2

50.0

0.05

BMI at baseline

25.25 ± 0.44

25.51 ± 0.76

25.02 ± 0.50

ns

Disease duration since first symptoms (years)

9.94 ± 1.31

12.27 ± 1.42

7.10 ± 2.19

˂0.001

Disease duration since diagnosis (years)

4.03 ± 0.75

5.84 ± 1.17

1.81 ± 0.52

˂0.01

HLA-B27 positivity (%)

90.0

90.9

88.8

ns

History of uveitis/exacerbation (%)^a

35.0/7.5

27.7/9.1

44.4/5.5

ns

History of peripheral arthritis/exacerbation (%)^a

42.5/2.5

45.5/4.5

38.9/0

ns

Hip involvement (%)

17.5%

22.7%

11.1%

ns

Therapy - NSA (daily use/on demand) (%)

100 (27.5/72.5)

100 (18.2/81.8)

100 (38.9/61.1)

ns

NSA changes during exercise therapy/changes to daily use (%)

7.5/2.5

0/0

16.7/5.5

ns

Therapy - sulfasalazin (%)

10.0

4.5

16.6

ns

Therapy – biological agents (%)^b

5.0

9.0

0

ns

Smokers ever/current

25.0/20.0

31.8/27.3

22.2/16.7

ns