Rheumatology Medical News about Hydrotherapy, Fibromyalgia, Spa therapy, Balneotherapy

Become a Member Today!
Register

Most Viewed Abstracts

1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians

2. Rapid correction of low vitamin D status in nursing home residents

3. 2008 Exclusive Survey—Earnings: Good news for primary care income

4. Medicare pay-for-reporting effort draws fire from frustrated doctors

5. Allopurinol-induced recurrent dress syndrome: Pathophysiology and treatment

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Efficacy of hydrotherapy in fibromyalgia syndrome—a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials
Rheumatology, 07/20/09

Langhorst J et al. – Study provides evidence that hydrotherapy has short–term beneficial effects on pain and health–related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). However, there is a risk to over–estimate the effects of hydrotherapy due to methodological weaknesses of the studies and to small trials included in meta–analysis.

Methods

Study to review the efficacy of hydrotherapy in FMS
MEDLINE, PsychInfo, EMBASE, CAMBASE and CENTRAL, and the references of original studies and systematic reviews on hydrotherapy in FMS
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the treatment of FMS with hydrotherapy (spa–, balneo– and thalassotherapy, hydrotherapy and packing and compresses) were analysed
Methodological quality was assessed by the van Tulder score
Effects were summarized using standardized mean differences (SMDs)

Results

10 out of 13 RCTs with 446 subjects, with a median sample size of 41, and a median treatment time of 240 min, were included
Only 3 studies had a moderate quality score
There was moderate evidence for reduction of pain and improved HRQOL at the end of therapy
There was moderate evidence that the reduction of pain and improvement of HRQOL could be maintained at f/u (median 14 wks)

<< Previous
Long-term efficacy of leflunomide on disease activity and...

Next >>
Hip involvement in ankylosing spondylitis: Epidemiology and risk...