Grupos educacionais para pacientes com espondilite anquilosante: revis？o sistemática

background and objectives: ankylosing spondylitis (as) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting sacroiliac joints, the spine in different degrees and in lesser extension peripheral joints. among non-pharmacological treatments, educational groups have been recommended as major coadjuvants to treat this disease. this study aimed at reviewing the literature on scientific evidences of educational groups for as patients. method: the following databases were reviewed: lilacs, medline, web of science and pedro. words for systematic search were extracted from health sciences keywords (hsc). results: nine scientific articles were found between 1990 and 2012. inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to select and analyze studies, including scientific articles especially addressing educational groups as treatment approaches for as patients. conclusion: literature on educational groups as coadjuvant to treat such patients is scarce. further studies are needed to show group formats, number and content of classes, in addition to evaluating their effectiveness.