International journal of biometeorology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effects of inpatient versus outpatient spa therapy on pain, anxiety, and quality of life in elderly patients with generalized osteoarthritis: a pilot study.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of inpatient vs outpatient spa therapy on pain, quality of life, and anxiety in elderly patients with generalized osteoarthritis. A total of 150 patients were randomized into three groups. Group I was given medical treatment, group II was treated as outpatients, and group III was treated as inpatient spa therapy. ⋯ Spa therapy, either as an outpatient or inpatient basis, may have a positive effect on pain, anxiety, and quality of life in geriatric patients with generalized osteoarthritis. The inpatient spa therapy may be more beneficial than outpatient spa therapy. When the side effects of drug treatments are emphasized, spa therapy may be considered as an interesting option for elderly with osteoarthritis.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Spa therapy together with supervised self-mobilisation improves pain, function and quality of life in patients with chronic shoulder pain: a single-blind randomised controlled trial.
To determine whether spa therapy has a beneficial effect on pain and disability in patients with chronic shoulder pain, this single-blind randomised controlled clinical trial included patients with chronic shoulder pain due to miscellaneous conditions attending one of four spa centres as outpatients. Patients were randomised into two groups: spa therapy (18 days of standardised treatment combining thermal therapy together with supervised mobilisation in a thermal pool) and controls (spa therapy delayed for 6 months: 'immediate versus delayed treatment' paradigm). All patients continued usual treatments during the 6-month follow-up period. ⋯ A significantly greater proportion of spa therapy patients reached MCII (59.3 versus 17.9%). Spa therapy was well tolerated with a significant impact on SF-36 components but not on drug intake. Spa therapy provided a statistically significant benefit on pain, function and quality of life in patients with chronic shoulder pain after 6 months compared with usual care.
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Balneotherapy and spa therapy are well-known practices, even though limited evidence has been produced about their biological effects. This systematic review primarily aims at assessing if balneotherapy, mud/peloid therapy, and spa therapy may influence cortisol levels. Secondarily, it aims at understanding if these interventions may improve stress resilience. ⋯ Spa therapy with or without included mud/peloid therapy demonstrated the same potential to influence cortisol levels also in sub-healthy subjects and in patients with a diagnosed disease. Therefore, balneotherapy and spa therapy may be considered as useful interventions for the management of stress conditions. Further investigation is needed because of limited available data.
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Here, we produce Ambrosia pollen source inventories for Italy that focuses on the periods before and after the accidental introduction of the Ophraella communa beetle. The inventory uses the top-down approach that combines the annual Ambrosia pollen index from a number of monitoring stations in the source region as well as Ambrosia ecology, local knowledge of Ambrosia infestation and detailed land cover information. The final inventory is gridded to a 5 × 5-km resolution using a stereographic projection. ⋯ Analysis showed that the European Infection level in all of Italy was significantly lower in 2013-2014 compared to 2003-2012, and this decrease was even more pronounced at the sites in the area where Ophraella communa was distributed. Cross-validations show that the sensitivity to the inclusion of stations is typically below 1% (for two thirds of the stations) and that the station Magenta (MI7) had the largest impact compared to all other stations. This is the first time that pollen source inventories from different temporal periods have been compared in this way and has implications for simulating interannual variations in pollen emission as well as evaluating the management of anemophilous plants like Ambrosia artemisiifolia.
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Clinical Trial
The role of thermal balneotherapy in the treatment of obese patient with knee osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis clinically characterized by joint pain, functional limitation, and reduced quality of life. Several studies have shown a clear link between obesity and higher risk of knee OA. According to the multifactorial OA pathogenesis, the management of this condition requires a multidisciplinary approach. ⋯ WOMAC score showed a significant reduction between T0 and T1 (p = 0.0137) and between T0 and T2 (p = 0.006438), as ROM evaluations. Kinematic path assessment did not show significant results in individual gait steps, except for the space-time variables of the average speed and the values of ground reaction force (GRF) obtained with force platforms. Hydrokinesitherapy in thermal environment in obese patients with knee OA may determine pain relief, joint function improvement, and walking speed increase until 6 months of follow-up.