A significant effect on depressive symptoms was not found .
The improvements for pain could be maintained at follow-up with smaller effects .
Introduction In the present systematic review and meta- analysis , we assessed the effectiveness of different forms of balneotherapy ( BT ) and hydrotherapy ( HT ) in the management of fibromyalgia syndrome ( FMS ) .
Effects of pool-based exercise in fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality: a prospective randomised comparison between stretching and Ai Chi.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of two pool-based physical therapies , stretching and Ai Chi , in fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality . METHODS Eighty-one patients , r and omly assigned to stretching ( n=39 ) or Ai Chi ( n=42 ) , received 18 physiotherapy sessions  and were evaluated at baseline , at treatment termination , and after 4 and 12 weeks of follow-up . Main outcome measures were the Fibromyalgia Impact Question naire ( FIQ ) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ( PSQI ) . Secondary outcome measures included the Beck Depression Inventory ( BDI ) , the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory ( STAI ) , and the SF-12 Health Survey ( SF-12 ) . Data analysis was done with repeated measures ANOVA and effect size estimation . RESULTS No differences were found between groups but significant reduction in the FIQ and the PSQI scores were observed in Ai Chi but not in stretching group , with larger effect sizes and longer effect duration on sleep measures . BDI scores decreased in stretching but not in Ai Chi group with small effect sizes . Trait-anxiety scores decreased in both groups also with small effect sizes . The mental component summary of the SF-12 increased only in stretching group with effect sizes moderate to large . CONCLUSIONS Although no global differences were found between groups , Ai Chi significantly improved fibromyalgia symptomatology and sleep quality , whereas stretching only improved subjects ' psychological well-being
A significant effect on depressive symptoms was not found .
The improvements for pain could be maintained at follow-up with smaller effects .
Introduction In the present systematic review and meta- analysis , we assessed the effectiveness of different forms of balneotherapy ( BT ) and hydrotherapy ( HT ) in the management of fibromyalgia syndrome ( FMS ) .