In conclusion , even though limitations must be considered , evidence shows that BT and spa therapy can significantly improve QoL of patients with knee OA .
Moreover , reduction of drug consumption and improvement of algofunctional indexes may be other beneficial effects .
Knee osteoarthritis ( OA ) is a degenerative disease which is expected to become one of the leading causes of disability by the next years .
This work aims to assess if balneotherapy and spa therapy can significantly improve Quality of Life ( QoL ) of patients with knee OA .
Validity and reliability of Swedish WOMAC osteoarthritis index: A self-administered disease-specific questionnaire (WOMAC) versus generic instruments (SF-36 and NHP)
We assessed whether a disease-specific , self-administered question naire could replace a generic instrument as an outcome tool after total hip replacement , and tested the validity and reliability of the Swedish WOMAC osteoarthritis index . 58 patients operated on with total hip arthroplasty 2 - 10 years ago were r and omized to the study . All patients were asked to answer one disease-specific question naire ( WOMAC osteoarthritis index ) and two generic instruments ( NHP and SF-36 ) in the same week . The procedure was repeated after 4 weeks . We tested content validity , construct validity , criterion validity , test-retest reliability and internal consistency reliability according to total score , domains and items . We found that both the generic instruments ( NHP and SF-36 ) and the disease-specific test ( WOMAC ) had a high validity , i.e. , measuring what they were supposed to measure ( high validity ) . The question naires were also reproducible over time ( high reliability ) . We suggest the Swedish WOMAC to be used after total hip arthroplasty in future studies
In conclusion , even though limitations must be considered , evidence shows that BT and spa therapy can significantly improve QoL of patients with knee OA .
Moreover , reduction of drug consumption and improvement of algofunctional indexes may be other beneficial effects .
Knee osteoarthritis ( OA ) is a degenerative disease which is expected to become one of the leading causes of disability by the next years .
This work aims to assess if balneotherapy and spa therapy can significantly improve Quality of Life ( QoL ) of patients with knee OA .