Abstract
Introduction Few studies evaluated the effects of spa therapy on pain perception and quality of life in older people with osteoarthritis. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of spa therapy on quality of life and pain in patients aged 60 years and older with osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods 70 patients with generalized osteoarthritis were enrolled in the study. Spa treatment lasted 3 weeks (15 days of treatment) and was applied during a session lasting 120 to 150 minutes a day. All the patients benefited from kinesiotherapy, physical agent modalities, massage, peloid therapy, hydrotherapy with mineral waters, and crenotherapy. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain, the Laitinen scale, and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire were used to assess the condition of the patients. The examinations were performed three times: at the beginning of the spa treatment, after three months, and one year after the first examinations. Results Statistically significant improvements were observed in pain (VAS) between consecutive assessments (p <.001). Laitinen scale also reported beneficial, statistically significant changes in the level of pain (p <.001). The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire reported a statistically significant improvement in the domain of social relations in 2-3 and 1-3 periods (p = .025 and p = .011, resp.). A significant improvement was recorded in the domain of environment between 2-3 and 1-3 periods (p <.001). Conclusion Spa treatment reduced the level of pain in majority of the patients in short- and long-term follow-up and contributed to improving the quality of life in the domain of social relations and environment. To confirm the results of this study, there is a need for a randomized controlled trial comparing spa treatment with usual care in the older population with osteoarthritis. Trial Registration Number This trial was retrospectively registered on 3 January 2018 with NCT03388801.
Highlights
Few studies evaluated the effects of spa therapy on pain perception and quality of life in older people with osteoarthritis
The results of 70 patients (43 women and 27 men) with generalized osteoarthritis were analyzed in the study
The use of Modified Laitinen Pain Questionnaire enabled the demonstration of short- and long-term effects of spa treatment, with the long-term effect of treatment being clearer than the short-term effect
Summary
Few studies evaluated the effects of spa therapy on pain perception and quality of life in older people with osteoarthritis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of spa therapy on quality of life and pain in patients aged 60 years and older with osteoarthritis. Spa treatment reduced the level of pain in majority of the patients in short- and long-term follow-up and contributed to improving the quality of life in the domain of social relations and environment. In 1994, World Health Organization established World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) Group which defined the quality of life as individual's perceptions of own position in life in the context of their culture and value systems, together with their personal goals, standards, and concerns It is influenced in a complex way by physical health, relationships with other people, and environment characteristics relevant for a subject [8,9,10]. In the case of chronic diseases, when medical goals frequently fail to be achieved, actions intended to improve the quality of life become significant [11]
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