The REFLECT Study- Flares in axSpA

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a long-term inflammatory condition that affects the spine and sacroiliac joints. People living with axSpA often experience periods when their symptoms suddenly worsen, known as disease "flares." These flares can be painful, unpredictable, and significantly affect daily life, work and psychological wellbeing. Their unpredictable nature can leave people feeling helpless and anxious about when symptoms will return. Research has shown that severe or frequent flares are linked to worse long-term outcomes in axSpA. However, it is difficult for researchers and clinicians to clearly define what a flare is, or to predict when one will happen. There is an unmet, urgent need to improve our understanding and recognition of flares, to enable earlier and more effective intervention, and improve long-term outcomes. This study will explore people's experiences of flares, through a real-time digital flare and symptom diary. Data will be captured digitally from people living with axSpA over 12 months, including symptoms, diet, and lifestyle, self-management strategies and impact of flare on life, work, psychological wellbeing and relationships. Participants will attend clinic at two time points only (once when in flare, once when not in flare), to collect blood (serum) samples for investigation of inflammatory markers. Findings will enable us to define and "map" different flare experiences of people living with axSpA and identify windows of opportunity for intervention and effective management. The results will inform the development of a novel, patient-initiated digital pathway for flare identification and management, which will be discussed and refined in a series of workshops with patients and healthcare professionals. This project will take place in two UK NHS hospitals (specialist rheumatology care settings): The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath and King's College Hospital, London. We anticipate future work to pilot test the pathway and inform potential wider NHS implementation

What you commit to

• Study type: Observational
• Planned participants: 40
• From 1 Jun 2026 to the primary completion date, 1 Jun 2026
• 2 sites in 1 country
• Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Who the study is looking for

Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (2)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.