The comparative efficacy of group- versus home-based exercise programs in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: Protocol for a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an important factor to not only cause employment obstacle, but also result in serious social economic load. Several randomized controlled trials investigated the efficacy of group- versus home-based exercise programs in patients with AS. This systematic review will collect and summarize the available evidence to realize the effectiveness of group- and home-based programs in patients with AS.

METHODS

A search in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library will be electronically performed by 2 independent investigators to capture all potential studies comparing group- and home-based in patients with AS. The time limit of search will be from their inception to April 2018. Two independent investigators provide their agreement in presencial meeting for a final selection, and at a later stage, the articles will be reviewed in full-text by the all authors. Quantitative analysis will be performed with Review Manager (RevMan) software (version 5.3.0).

RESULTS

This meta-analysis will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of group- versus home-based exercise programs in patients with AS.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion of our meta-analysis will provide the evidence which program is an effective intervention for patient with AS.