Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27324883›Full record

Trial reportInternational journal of biometeorology2016

Effects of sulfur bath on hip osteoarthritis: a randomized, controlled, single-blind, follow-up trial: a pilot study.

Csaba Kovács, Ágnes Bozsik, Mariann Pecze, Ildikó Borbély, Andrea Fogarasi, Lajos Kovács, Ildikó Katalin Tefner, Tamás Bender

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in International journal of biometeorology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
7.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
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

23 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Challenges of blinding in clinical balneology trials: a scoping review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Observational
  15. Article
  16. Hydrogen sulfide biosynthesis is impaired in the osteoarthritic joint.International journal of biometeorology · 2020
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Observational
  20. 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

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Csaba KovácsMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Ágnes BozsikMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Mariann PeczeMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Ildikó BorbélyMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Andrea FogarasiMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Lajos KovácsMusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Center, Mezőkövesd, Hungary.
Ildikó Katalin TefnerJózsefváros Municipal Health Service, Budapest, Hungary.
Tamás BenderPolyclinic of Brother of St. John of God Hospitals, Budapest, Hungary. bender@mail.datanet.hu.
National Public Health and Medical Officer Service · HU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The effects of balneotherapy were evaluated in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip. This randomized, controlled, investigator-blinded study enrolled outpatients with hip osteoarthritis according to ACR criteria. In addition to home exercise therapy, one patient group received balneotherapy for 3 weeks on 15 occasions. The mineral water used in this study is one of the mineral waters with the highest sulfide ion content (13.2 mg/L) in Hungary. The control group received exercise therapy alone. The WOMAC Likert 3.1 index and the EQ-5D quality of life self-administered questionnaire were completed three times during the study: prior to first treatment, at the end of the 3-week treatment course, and 12 weeks later. The main endpoint was achievement of Minimal Clinically Important Improvement (MCII) at 12 weeks, defined as ≥7.9 points in a normalized WOMAC function score. The intention to treat analysis included 20 controls and 21 balneotherapy patients. At 12 weeks, 17 (81 %) balneotherapy group patients had Minimal Clinically Important Improvement and 6 (30 %) of controls (p = 0.001). Comparing the results of the two groups at the end of treatment, there was a significant difference in the WOMAC stiffness score only, whereas after 12 weeks, the WOMAC pain, stiffness, function, and total scores also showed a significant difference in favor of the balneotherapy group. The difference between the two groups was significant after 12 weeks in point of EQVAS score, too. The results of our study suggest that the combination of balneotherapy and exercise therapy achieves more sustained improvement of joint function and decreases in pain than exercise therapy alone.

Indexed as

BathsExercise TherapyAgedHumansHungaryMiddle AgedMineral WatersOsteoarthritis, HipPilot ProjectsQuality of LifeSingle-Blind MethodSulfurMineral WatersSulfur

Identifiers

PMID27324883
OpenAlexW2470399649

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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 OpenQuestion graph.