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PMS69 Effectiveness the Treatments with Natural Mineral Water in Low Back Pain for Spondylarthrosis

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 14; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jval.2011.08.455

1524-4733

M.I. Ferreira, Ana Junça Silva, Anabela Almeida,

Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment

Determine whether treatments with Unhais da Serra natural mineral water, a Portuguese spa, are effective in low back pain for spondylarthrosis. A descriptive, longitudinal, observational, uncontrolled prospective study was conducted. The 51 study participants underwent 14 days of treatment with Unhais da Serra natural mineral water. Assessment criteria were: pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale), quality of life (SF36v2), disability (ODIv2), absenteeism, acute outbreak/relapse, drug consumption. The evaluation was conducted in four distinct stages: the first day before, 14 days, 3 and 6 months after the thermal treatment. The mean age of the sample was 60.53 years, 60.8% were female. The duration of illness was, on average, 7.35 years, 50.9% were retired and 90.2% were from a countryside district. There was a statistically significant improvement (p <0.05) in pain intensity, quality of life, disability, absenteeism and drug consumption, 14 days, 3 and 6 months after thermal treatment compared to baseline. There was no effect on the number of acute outbreak/relapse. Regarding socio-demographic and clinical data, we get no consistent results, only low correlations and some differences in just a few moments of assessment. This research showed that 14 days of treatment with natural mineral water of Unhais da Serra spa, reduced pain, disability and drug consumption, improved quality of life, not influencing the number of outbreaks acute/relapse presented by the participants. All the beneficial effects were observed in the short and medium term (six months). No consistent conclusion could be drawn to the possible influence of socio-demographic and clinical variables. Thus, treatment with Unhais da Serra spa shows up as an effective complementary treatment modality in selected patients with lumbar spondylarthrosis. It seems to be justified and useful to familiarize patients and their physicians with this modality of treatment because the socio-economic impact of the pathology.