Trial reportInternational journal of biometeorology2018
The effects of the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate content in thermal mineral water on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled follow-up study.
Trial report in International journal of biometeorology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 15 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based balneotherapy in Hungary. Updated systematic review and meta-analysis of the Hungarian clinical trials.International journal of biometeorology · 2026Pooled it
- In water or on land? A network meta-analysis of aquatic and land-based exercise interventions for pain and disability in chronic lower back pain.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of spa therapy for patients with chronic low back pain: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of complex spa therapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the spine receiving treatments in health resorts in south-eastern Poland.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Effect of balneotherapy on pain and fatigue in elderly with knee osteoarthritis receiving physical therapy: a randomized trial.International journal of biometeorology · 2019Trial
- Green exercise and mg-ca-SOBMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2019Trial
- Comparison of the effectiveness of dry needling and balneotherapy on pain, mood, anxiety, kinesiophobia, disability, and quality of life of patients with myofascial pain syndrome: A prospective, single-blind, randomized study.Turkish journal of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Challenges of blinding in clinical balneology trials: a scoping review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- A Novel Approach to Assess Balneotherapy Effects on Musculoskeletal Diseases-An Open Interventional Trial Combining Physiological Indicators, Biomarkers, and Patients' Health Perception.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Impact of Hot Spring Hydrotherapy on Pain Perception and Dysfunction Severity in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- The economic and social value of spa tourism: The case of balneotherapy in Maresme, Spain.PloS one · 2022Article
- Effect of Balneotherapy on Chronic Low Back Pain at Hot Springs in Southern Ethiopia: Perceived Improvements from Pain.Journal of pain research · 2021Article
- Article
- Efficacy of balneological outpatient treatment (hydrotherapy and peloidotherapy) for the management of chronic low back pain: a retrospective study.International journal of biometeorology · 2019Observational
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of balneotherapy on chronic low back pain. This is a minimized, follow-up study evaluated according to the analysis of intention to treat. The subjects included in the study were 105 patients suffering from chronic low back pain. The control group (n = 53) received the traditional musculoskeletal pain killer treatment, while the target group (n = 52) attended thermal mineral water treatment for 3 weeks for 15 occasions on top of the usual musculoskeletal pain killer treatment. The following parameters were measured before, right after, and 9 weeks after the 3-week therapy: the level of low back pain in rest and the level during activity are tested using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS); specific questionnaire on the back pain (Oswestry); and a questionnaire on quality of life (EuroQual-5D). All of the investigated parameters improved significantly (p < 0.001) in the target group by the end of the treatment compared to the base period, and this improvement was persistent during the follow-up period. There were no significant changes in the measured parameters in the control group. Based on our results, balneotherapy might have favorable impact on the clinical parameters and quality of life of patients suffering from chronic low back pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.