Are aquatic exercises efficacious in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Impact of Bad Ragaz ring in hot spring water on knee osteoarthritis: A prospective observational study

To evaluate the impact of the Bad Ragaz ring method (BRRM) in hot spring water for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), this prospective study enrolled KOA patients treated at the hospital between March 2020 and December 2020. The primary outcome was the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index score. A total of 60 patients were included, with 30 participants in the BRRM group and 30 patients in the non-BRRM group, respectively. The mean age was 56.4 ± 10.2 years (13 females), and the duration of disease was 5.0 ± 2.2 years in the BRRM group. The mean age was 56.0 ± 11.3 years (14 females), and the disease duration was 4.7 ± 2.1 years in the non-BRRM group. There were no differences between the 2 groups in the pain, stiffness, and function scores of the WOMAC (all P > .05) before treatment. The pre post difference in total WOMAC scores (56.57 ± 12.45 vs 36.81 ± 13.51, Cohen d = 1.52, P < .01) between the 2 groups was statistically significant. Compared with the non-BRRM group, the BRRM group showed lower scores for pain (6.5 ± 1.5 vs 8.1 ± 2.9, Cohen d = -0.69, P = .01), stiffness (2.7 ± 1.0 vs 5.0 ± 1.2, Cohen d = -1.93, P < .01), and function (14.8 ± 6.6 vs 26.7 ± 7.5, Cohen d = -1.68, P < .01) after treatment. In conclusion, the BRRM might improve the pain and function of patients with KOA.

Efficacy and safety of aquatic exercise in knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE

To examine the efficacy and safety of aquatic exercise for people with knee osteoarthritis.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CENTRAL, CNKI and WanFang databases were searched from 1966 to September 2022.

REVIEW METHODS

Randomized controlled trials evaluating aquatic exercise for people with knee osteoarthritis compared with no exercise and land-based exercise were included. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence.

RESULTS

Twenty-two studies with 1394 participants were included. Compared with no exercise (13 trials with 746 participants), low-to high-certainty evidence revealed that aquatic exercise yielded significant improvements in patient-reported pain (SMD -0.58, 95% CI -0.82 to -0.33), stiffness (SMD -0.57, 95% CI -1.03 to -0.11) and physical function (SMD -0.35, 95% CI -0.52 to -0.18) immediately postintervention. A sustained effect was observed only for pain at three months postintervention (SMD -0.48, 95% CI -0.91 to -0.06). The confidence intervals demonstrated that the pooled results do not exclude the minimal clinically important differences. There were no significant differences between the effects of aquatic exercise and land-based exercise (13 trials with 648 participants) on pain (SMD -0.12, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.04), stiffness (SMD -0.17, 95% CI -0.49 to 0.16) or physical function (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.28 to 0.02). No study reported a serious adverse event in relation to aquatic exercise.

CONCLUSION

Aquatic exercise provides a short-term clinical benefit that is sustained for at least three months postintervention in terms of pain in people with knee osteoarthritis.

Effectiveness of aquatic exercise in lower limb osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-term and follow-up effectiveness of aquatic training on the health status of lower limb osteoarthritis. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on related topics were systematically searched in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases from inception to January 2021. RevMan 5.3 was used for statistical analysis, and the standardized mean difference (SMD) was used to present pooled effect sizes. As a result, 19 RCTs (1592 patients) were included. Compared with unsupervised home exercise or usual care (land-based training excluded), aquatic training showed short-term pain relief (SMD, -0.54; 95% CI, -0.81 to -0.28), physical function improvement (SMD, -0.64; 95% CI, -1.00 to -0.28), stiffness reduction (SMD, -0.40; 95% CI, -0.79 to -0.01) and improved function in sport and recreation (SMD, -0.30; 95% CI, -0.59 to -0.02). Analyses restricted to patients with knee osteoarthritis only also confirmed the positive effects of aquatic training on most dimensions excluding physical function. At medium-term follow-ups, improvements in physical function and function in sport and recreation were observed. No significant difference was observed between arms in the above four outcomes at long-term follow-ups. All studies reported no major adverse event with relation to aquatic training, and the minor adverse events were not common. It is concluded that aquatic training likely has short-term benefits on pain, physical function, stiffness and sport ability in lower limb osteoarthritis patients, but these positive effects may not last long.