Effects of Aquatic Physiotherapy on Pain and Sleep Quality in Women With Fibromyalgia: A Pre-Post Study.
Josilene Câmara Ferreira, Maria Madalena Corrêa Melo, Raylson De Jesus Pereira Barros and 1 others
PMID 41418296WHAT IT FOUND
Thirteen women with fibromyalgia reported pain halving from severe to moderate and sleep quality improving significantly after eight weeks of supervised aquatic physiotherapy in a school clinic.
Without a control group, these changes cannot be separated from natural fluctuation or other concurrent care.
Key findings
01Pain intensity decreased significantly from a median VAS score of 10 to 5 after the intervention.
02Global sleep quality improved significantly, with the PSQI score decreasing from a median of 16 to 9.
03The study used a pre-post design without a control group, limiting the ability to attribute changes solely to the intervention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, so improvements cannot be distinguished from natural variation, placebo effects, or concurrent care. The sample size was very small (13 participants), limiting generalizability. The intervention period was short (eight weeks), with no follow-up to assess sustained effects. Potential confounding variables such as age, BMI, and medication use were recorded but not controlled for in the analysis. Only women were included, so findings do not apply to men with fibromyalgia.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest and report no funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that aquatic physiotherapy caused these improvements. This was a pre-post study without a control group, so the observed reductions in pain and improvements in sleep could be due to natural fluctuation, regression to the mean, or other concurrent factors rather than the aquatic intervention itself.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →