Hydrotherapy and conventional physiotherapy improve total sleep time and quality of life of fibromyalgia patients: randomized clinical trial

Authors: Vitorino DF (1) , Carvalho LB (2) , Prado GF (2)

Affiliations:

(1) UNILAVRAS (2) Federal University of Sao Paulo, UNIFESP

Source: Sleep Med. 2006 Apr;7(3):293-6

Language: English Countries: Brazil Location: Not specified Correspondence address: Gilmar Fernandes do Prado : Tel./fax: +55 11 50816629. Email : gilmar.dmed@epm.br

Keywords

Article abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To compare hydrotherapy (HT) and conventional physiotherapy (CP) in the treatment of fibromyalgia (FM), regarding quality of life (QOL), total sleep time (TST), and total nap time (TNT).

METHODS:

Fifty outpatients, all female, 30-60 years old, diagnosed with FM, were randomly assigned to two groups to carry out 3 weeks of treatment with HT or CP. In the beginning and in the end of treatment, patients were evaluated with the SF-36 questionnaire to measure QOL and the sleep diary for TST and TNT. Data analyses were blind.

RESULTS:

All 24 HT patients increased 1h in TST compared to 19 CP patients. TNT decreased in the HT group. QOL improved for the two groups in all domains when pre- and post-intervention were compared, but there was no difference between groups.

CONCLUSION:

HT is more effective than CP to improve TST and to decrease TNT in FM patients.

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