Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40309736›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in medicine2025

Hydrotherapy and acupressure in restless legs syndrome: results of a randomized, controlled, three-armed, pilot study (HYDRAC-study).

Julia Kubasch, Miriam Ortiz, Sylvia Binting, Stephanie Roll, Katja Icke, Joanna Dietzel, Rainer Nögel, Josef Hummelsberger, Stefan N Willich, Benno Brinkhaus and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Julia KubaschCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Miriam OrtizCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Sylvia BintingCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Stephanie RollCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Katja IckeCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Joanna DietzelCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Rainer NögelInternational Society for Chinese Medicine (SMS), Munich, Germany.
Josef HummelsbergerInternational Society for Chinese Medicine (SMS), Munich, Germany.
Stefan N WillichCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Benno BrinkhausCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Michael TeutCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.
Julia SiewertCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Berlin, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Study objectives: Non-pharmacological interventions for restless legs syndrome (RLS) are frequently used, although scientific evidence remains limited. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effects of self-applied hydrotherapy and self-applied acupressure in patients with RLS. Methods: In a three-armed randomized single-center open exploratory pilot study, adults with moderate to severe RLS were randomly allocated to 6 weeks of daily hydrotherapy plus routine care (HT group), acupressure plus routine care (AP group), or routine care alone (RC group). Outcome measures included RLS symptom severity (IRLS), disease-specific quality of life (RLSQoL), the impression of change (PGI-C), health-related quality of life (SF-12), psychological outcomes (SGW-B, HADS, and GSE), and adherence and adverse events (AEs) after 6 and 12 weeks. Results: Fifty-four adults (mean age 57.5 ± 11.4 years, 63% women) were included. The study showed good feasibility with an 83% retention rate. After 6 weeks, baseline-adjusted mean IRLS scores were 19.8 (95% [16.4, 23.2]) for HT, 22.9 (19.2, 26.6) for AP, and 24.0 (20.8, 27.2) for RC. RLSQoL adjusted means were 65.3 (59.7, 70.9) for HT, 68.3 (62.3, 74.3) for AP, and 56.2 (50.9, 61.5) for RC, after 6 weeks. Both interventions were safe, with high adherence rates. Conclusion: Self-applied hydrotherapy and acupressure appear to be feasible and safe interventions for patients with RLS. This exploratory pilot study suggests potential benefits, though larger, well-designed confirmatory studies are needed to validate these findings. Clinical trial registration: This study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (number DRKS00029960) on August 09, 2022. https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00029960.

Indexed as

acupressurecomplementary and integrative medicinehydrotherapyKneipp therapyrandomized controlled trialrestless legs syndrome

Identifiers

PMID40309736
PMCPMC12041014

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.