Impact of a Wearable Activity Tracker on Disease Flares in Spondyloarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a wearable activity tracker used to encourage physical activity, on disease flares in spondyloarthritis patients.

METHODS: This randomized controlled trial involved randomizing 108 spondyloarthritis patients into tracker and non-tracker groups. The participants were then subjected to assessments of disease activity, performance (6-Minute Walk Test), and quality of life (Short-Form-36 Health Survey Questionnaire) at the 12th , 24th , and 36th week. The primary outcome of was the change in the frequency of flare episodes (categorized as no flare, flare in <3 days, and flare in >3 days) between baseline and 12 weeks.

RESULTS: The results of the study showed that at the 12th week, the mean change (Δ) of the number of flares improved in both groups: -0.32 (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.66, 0.02) and -0.38 (95% CI -0.68, 60.09) in the tracker and non-tracker group, respectively. However, the between-group differences were insignificant (p=0.87). Performance scores improved in both groups at the 12th , 24th , and 36th week (p<0.01, p<0.01, and p<0.01). The different dimensions of quality of life also improved at the 12th week (p<0.01). Conversely, moderate flares (p<0.01) and performance (p<0.01) improved over time; however, the influence of a wearable activity tracker was not significant (p=0.29 and p=0.66, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The use of a wearable activity tracker did not affect the number of flares, performance, and quality of life of spondyloarthritis patients. Nevertheless, this study confirmed the benefits of physical activity on flares, disease activity, quality of life, and physical performance in spondyloarthritis patients.