The British Journal of Rheumatology, Vol 36, 77-81, Copyright © 1997 by British Society for Rheumatology
M Nguyen, M Revel and M Dougados
Spa therapy is frequently used in daily rheumatological practice, but its
benefit remains to be evaluated. A prospective randomized controlled study
was conducted in 1993 in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip, knee or
lumbar spine. Treatment was either spa therapy at Vichy (France) of 3 weeks
duration (spa group) or usual therapy (control group). Assessment criteria
were pain (visual analogue scale), functional impairment (Lequesne's index
for hip or knee disease, Main and Waddell's for lumbar spinal diseases),
quality of life index [revised Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS2)],
and analgesic and/or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)
consumption. Patients were included by randomization into one of the two
arms (spa or control) and assessment criteria were collected before spa
therapy or the control period, and 3 and 24 weeks thereafter. A total of
188 patients (lumbar spine 95, knee 64, hip 29) were included in the study
(spa group 91, control group 97). Changes in the assessment criteria after
a 6 month follow-up period showed improvement in terms of pain, functional
impairment and quality of life, with a reduced intake of symptomatic drugs
(NSAID and analgesic drugs) in the spa group. This study suggests that spa
therapy of 3 weeks duration has a prolonged, beneficial, symptomatic effect
in osteoarthritis.
ORIGINAL PAPERS
Prolonged effects of 3 week therapy in a spa resort on lumbar spine, knee and hip osteoarthritis: follow-up after 6 months. A randomized controlled trial
Rene Descartes University, Paris, France.
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