Study2016Open access

Subjective evaluation of the effectiveness of whole-body cryotherapy in patients with osteoarthritis

Chruściak T

Reumatologia · 8 citations

Review labels

Funding not disclosed

Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.

How it was studied

Design
Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
Studied in
People
Main outcome
Health markers and function

Who paid for it

Funding
Funding not disclosed

Publication

Published
2016-12-30 · Reumatologia · vol. 54 · issue 6 · pp. 291–295
Publisher
Termedia Publishing House
Cited
17 citations · more than 78% of similar papers · 0.9× the field average
References
8 works
Access
Open access (free to publish) · CC-BY-NC-SA
Research areas
Exercise and Physiological Responses · Medical and Biological Ozone Research · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
Keywords
Medicine, Cryotherapy, Osteoarthritis, Visual analogue scale, Physical therapy, Surgery, Alternative medicine

1 author

From PL

  • Tomasz Chruściak · correspondingCentral Clinical Hospital

Abstract

Objectives

One of the treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) is whole-body cryotherapy (WBC). The aim of this study is to assess the effect of whole-body cryotherapy on the clinical status of patients with osteoarthritis (OA), according to their subjective feelings before and after the application of a 10-day cold treatment cycle. The aim is also to assess the reduction of intensity and frequency of pain, the reduction of the painkiller medication used, and to assess the possible impact on physical activity.

Material and methods

The study involved 50 people, including 30 women (60%) and 20 men (40%). Thirty-one patients had spondyloarthritis (62% of respondents), 10 had knee osteoarthritis (20%), and 9 hip osteoarthritis (18%). The overall average age was 50.1 ±10.9 years; the youngest patient was 29 years old and the oldest 73 years old. The average age of the women was 6 years higher. The study used a questionnaire completed by patients, and consisted of three basic parts. The modified Laitinen pain questionnaire contained questions concerning the intensity and frequency of pain, frequency of painkiller use and the degree of limited mobility. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used in order to subjectively evaluate the therapy after applying the ten-day treatment cycle.

Results

According to the subjective assessment of respondents, after the whole-body cryotherapy treatments, a significant improvement occurred in 39 patients (78%), an improvement in 9 patients (18%), and no improvement was only declared by 2 patients (4%).

Conclusions

Whole-body cryotherapy resulted in a reduction in the frequency and degree of pain perception in patients with osteoarthritis. WBC reduced the number of analgesic medications in these patients. It improved the range of physical activity and had a positive effect on the well-being of patients.

Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-SA).

Community trust

Loading…

How much do you trust this study's findings?

0 · not at all10 · completely

Comments

Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign in

Something wrong here?

Flag this study if its information, labels or funding look wrong. An editor reviews every flag.

Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign in

Educational information about published research. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start or stop anything.