Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36309392›Full record

Trial reportIn vivo (Athens, Greece)

Balneotherapy, a Complementary Non-pharmacological Approach for Non-Inflammatory Complaints in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Pilot Study.

Kinga Fritsch, Gyorgy Nagy, Zoltan Szekanecz, Gabriella Szűcs, Laszlo Kovacs, Tamas Bender

Open access · diamondAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in In vivo (Athens, Greece). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Challenges of blinding in clinical balneology trials: a scoping review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. 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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Kinga FritschPolyclinic of Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, Budapest, Hungary.
Gyorgy NagyPolyclinic of Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, Budapest, Hungary.
Zoltan SzekaneczDivision of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
Gabriella SzűcsDivision of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
Laszlo KovacsDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Tamas BenderPolyclinic of Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, Budapest, Hungary; bender.tamas@irgalmas.hu bender.tamas@t-online.hu.
University of Debrecen · HUSemmelweis University · HUUniversity of Szeged · HU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimDespite remission or low disease activity non-inflammatory complaints like exhaustion, fatigue, and pain persist in a significant proportion of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and have a considerable impact on health-related quality of life. This study evaluated the effects of balneotherapy on non-inflammatory complaints, quality of life, and work productivity of patients with SLE. PATIENTS AND

methodsSLE patients in remission/low disease activity in three rheumatology centers were included in this randomized, controlled, follow-up study. In addition to the standard of care (SOC), sixteen out of the thirty patients with SLE received balneotherapy (3-week period, 15 times, for 30 min) and fourteen patients received the SOC only. Pre-validated survey instruments including Lupus Quality of Life (LupusQoL), Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Work Productivity, and Activity Impairment-Lupus (WPAI-Lupus) questionnaires were used.

resultsBased on the SF-36 questionnaires, several subdomains of physical condition improved significantly after the course; the improvement remained durable (p=0.019). General health improved significantly by the end of the course (p=0.001). According to the LupusQoL questionnaire, physical health and pain showed a tendency of improvement shortly after the spa treatment. Changes in the WPAI-lupus questionnaire indicated a short-term improvement of the daily activity by the end of the observation period. No adverse reactions were observed.

conclusionThermal water therapy may be an effective, well-tolerated, complementary non-pharmacological approach for non-inflammatory complaints of patients with SLE. Physical condition improved in the short-term, whereas fatigue worsened despite treatment.

Indexed as

BalneologyLupus Erythematosus, SystemicFatigueFollow-Up StudiesHumansPainPilot ProjectsQuality of LifeSeverity of Illness IndexSurveys and QuestionnairesbalneotherapyFatiguepainquality of lifeSLE

Identifiers

PMID36309392
PMCPMC9677769
OpenAlexW4307841854

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.