RESEARCH - Deep water running: clinical effectiveness of aquatic exercise to treat fibromyalgia

[Guest guest]

Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Feb 15;55(1):57-65.

A randomized controlled trial of deep water running: clinical effectiveness

of aquatic exercise to treat fibromyalgia.

Division of Rheumatology, Sao o Federal University, Rua Botucatu 740,

04023-900 Sao o, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effectiveness of aerobic exercise in the

water with walking/jogging for women with fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: Sixty

sedentary women with FM, ages 18-60 years, were randomly assigned to either

deep water running (DWR) or land-based exercises (LBE). Patients were

trained for 15 weeks at their anaerobic threshold. Visual analog scale of

pain, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Beck Depression Inventory,

Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), and a patient's global assessment of

response to therapy (PGART) were measured at baseline, week 8, and week 15.

Statistical analysis included all patients. RESULTS: Four patients dropped

out from each group. Both groups improved significantly at week 15 compared

with baseline, with an average 36% reduction in pain intensity. For PGART,

40% of the DWR group and 30% of the LBE group answered " much better " at

posttreatment. FIQ total score and FIQ depression improvements in the DWR

group were faster (week 8) than the LBE group and kept improving (week 15; P

< 0.05). Only the DWR group showed improvements in SF-36 role emotional (P =

0.006). No significant between-group differences were observed for peak

oxygen uptake and other outcomes.

CONCLUSION: DWR is a safe exercise that has been shown to be as effective as

LBE regarding pain. However, it has been shown to bring more advantages

related to emotional aspects. Aerobic gain was similar for both groups,

regardless of symptom improvement. Therefore, DWR could be studied as an

exercise option for patients with FM who have problems adapting to LBE or

lower limbs limitations.

PMID: 16463414

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=Abstra\

ctPlus & list_uids=16463414

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org