Osteoarthritis of the Knees Clinical Trial
This study will check the efficacy of balneological therapy of bathing in Dead Sea fountain waters over a 6 week period on a twice a week basis (overall 12 treatments) in patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees.
Since stay in the Dead Sea for a long period of time is an expensive matter, it is important
to determine whether twice a week treatments can be as beneficiary as two straight weeks of
treatments as was shown to be effective in previous studies.
Our study will follow the patients for a longer period of time (6 months) than was done in
previous studies.
An additional advantage will be separating the therapeutical effect of our specific
treatment from the therapeutical effect of being in a comfortable hotel away from the daily
nuisances for 2 weeks which by itself has been shown to be pain relieving in patients
suffering from rheumatic diseases.
Our study will take 50 patients suffering from Osteoarthritis of the knees and divide them
in to 2 equal groups. One group will be treated twice a week with thermo-mineral baths at
the temperature of 35-36 degrees Celsius for approximately 20 minutes. The other group will
be treated twice a week with hot sweet water tub (without the water jets!) of the same
temperature and for the same length of time.
Both groups will change nothing in their current medical treatment.
The patients will be examined at 5 points during this study: a few days before their first
treatment, right after their last treatment (after 6 weeks), after one month, after 3 months
and after 6 months.
All examination will be performed in the Soroka University Medical Center.
The clinical indexes and questionnaires which would be filled during this trial will be:
1. WOMAC index
2. Lequesne's index
3. Visual analogue scale by the patient
4. Visual analogue scale by the doctor
5. SF 36 and Health assessment questionnaire (HAQ)
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Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind, Primary Purpose: Treatment