1. Stress and Fatigue Management Using Balneotherapy in a Short-Time Randomized Controlled Trial
- Author
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Arvydas Martinkėnas, Jonas Sąlyga, Artūras Razbadauskas, and Lolita Rapolienė
- Subjects
Balneotherapy ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Music therapy ,Article Subject ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Mental fatigue ,medicine.medical_treatment ,01 natural sciences ,law.invention ,Treatment and control groups ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Randomized controlled trial ,law ,Stress (linguistics) ,Medicine ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,business.industry ,Cognition ,lcsh:Other systems of medicine ,lcsh:RZ201-999 ,Mood ,Complementary and alternative medicine ,Physical therapy ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Research Article - Abstract
Objective. To investigate the influence of high-salinity geothermal mineral water on stress and fatigue.Method. 180 seamen were randomized into three groups: geothermal (65), music (50), and control (65). The geothermal group was administered 108 g/L salinity geothermal water bath for 2 weeks five times a week. Primary outcome was effect on stress and fatigue. Secondary outcomes were the effect on cognitive function, mood, and pain.Results. The improvements after balneotherapy were a reduction in the number and intensity of stress-related symptoms, a reduction in pain and general, physical, and mental fatigue, and an improvement in stress-related symptoms management, mood, activation, motivation, and cognitive functions with effect size from 0.8 to 2.3. In the music therapy group, there were significant positive changes in the number of stress symptoms, intensity, mood, pain, and activity with the effect size of 0.4 to 1.1. The researchers did not observe any significant positive changes in the control group. The comparison between the groups showed that balneotherapy was superior to music therapy and no treatment group.Conclusions. Balneotherapy is beneficial for stress and fatigue reduction in comparison with music or no therapy group. Geothermal water baths have a potential as an efficient approach to diminish stress caused by working or living conditions.
- Published
- 2016