To examine the beneficial effect of climatic therapy at the Tiberias Hot Springs on patients with inflammatory arthritis.
Patients from Sweden with inflammatory arthritis underwent climatic therapy for 4 weeks at the Tiberias Hot Springs in Israel. Patients were examined at the beginning and end of the therapy and were evaluated as responders according to internationally validated criteria.
One hundred-thirty-six patients were evaluated, 83 with a clinical course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 53 with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Forty-seven (57%) of the RA patients and 32 (60%) of the AS patients were considered responders. Shorter disease duration and more active disease were associated with a greater response in RA, while in AS males responded more often than females.
Most patients benefited significantly from climatic therapy. Long-term follow-up is necessary to see whether improvement is sustained and if work ability and hospitalizations are also improved.