***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of aquatic exercise and a l and -based exercise programme vs control in patients with knee osteoarthritis .  METHODS Primary outcome was change in pain , and in addition Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score question naire ( KOOS ) . St and ing balance and strength was also measured after and at 3-month follow-up . Seventy-nine patients ( 62 women ) , with a mean age of 68 years ( age range 40 - 89 years ) were r and omized to aquatic exercise ( n = 27 ) , l and -based exercise ( n = 25 ) or control ( n = 27 ) . RESULTS No effect was observed immediately after exercise cessation ( 8 weeks ) . At 3-month follow-up a reduction in pain was observed only in the l and -based exercise group compared with control ( -8.1 mm , ( 95 % confidence interval -15.4 to -0.4 ; p = 0.039 ) , but no differences between groups were observed for KOOS ; and no improvement following aquatic exercise . Eleven patients reported adverse events ( i.e. discomfort ) in l and -based exercise , while only 3 reported adverse events in the aquatic exercise . CONCLUSION Only l and -based exercise showed some improvement in pain and muscle strength compared with the control group , while no clinical benefits were detectable after aquatic exercise compared with the control group . However , aquatic exercise has significantly less adverse effects compared with a l and -based programme OBJECTIVE To conduct a preliminary investigation of the effects on floatation spa therapy on quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis to see if controlled trials are warranted . DESIGN Uncontrolled clinical trial . SETTING Private floatation spa therapy centre . PATIENTS Fourteen patients with chronic osteoarthritis of the weight-bearing joints , of whom four dropped out . INTERVENTION Six weekly sessions of floatation spa therapy . OUTCOME MEASURES SF36 , AIMS 2 and MYMOP quality -of-life question naires . MAIN RESULTS All patients improved . Differences between baseline and discharge scores showed statistically significant improvement for MYMOP , but not AIMS 2 or SF-36 . CONCLUSIONS Controlled trials of floatation spa therapy for patients with osteoarthritis are warranted BACKGROUND Balneotherapy , traditionally administered during a continuous stay at the Dead Sea area , has been shown to be effective for patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis . OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of an intermittent regimen of balneotherapy at the Dead Sea for patients with knee osteoarthritis . METHODS Forty-four patients with knee osteoarthritis were included in a prospect i ve r and omized single-blind controlled study . The patients were divided into two groups : a treatment group ( n=24 ) , which were treated twice weekly for 6 consecutive weeks in a sulfur pool heated to 35 - 36 degrees C , and a control group ( n=20 ) treated in a Jacuzzi filled with tap water heated to 35 - 36 degrees C. Participants were assessed by the Lequesne index of osteoarthritis severity , the WOMAC index , the SF-36 quality of health question naire , VAS scales for pain ( completed by patients and physicians ) , and physical examination . RESULTS A statistically significant improvement , lasting up to 6 months , was observed in the treatment group for most of the clinical parameters . In the control group the only improvements were in the SF-36 bodily pain scale at 6 months , the Lequesne index at 1 month and the WOMAC pain score at the end of the treatment period . Although the patients in the control group had milder disease , the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant . CONCLUSIONS Intermittent balneotherapy appears to be effective for patients with knee osteoarthritis Objectives .To estimate cost and outcomes of the Arthritis Foundation aquatic exercise classes from the societal perspective . Design .R and omized trial of 20-week aquatic classes .  Cost per quality -adjusted life year ( QALY ) gained was estimated using trial data . Sample size was based on 80 % power to reject the null hypothesis that the cost/QALY gained would not exceed $ 50,000 . Subjects and Methods . Recruited 249 adults from Washington State aged 55 to 75 with a doctor-confirmed diagnosis of osteoarthritis to participate in aquatic classes .  The Quality of Well-Being Scale ( QWB ) and Current Health Desirability Rating ( CHDR ) were used for economic evaluation , supplemented by the arthritis-specific Health Assessment Question naire ( HAQ ) , Center for Epidemiologic Studies -Depression Scale ( CES-D ) , and Perceived Quality of Life Scale ( PQOL ) collected at baseline and postclass . Outcome results applied to life expectancy tables were used to estimate QALYs . Use of health care facilities was assessed from diaries/ question naires and Medicare reimbursement rates used to estimate costs . Nonparametric bootstrap sampling of costs/QALY ratios established the 95 % CI around the estimates . Results .Aquatic exercisers reported equal ( QWB ) or better ( CHDR , HAQ , PQOL ) health-related quality of life compared with controls . Outcomes improved with regular class attendance . Costs/QALY gained discounted at 3 % were $ 205,186 using the QWB and $ 32,643 using the CHRD . Conclusion .Aquatic exercise exceeded $ 50,000 per QALY gained using the community-weighted outcome but fell below this arbitrary budget constraint when using the participant-weighted measure . Confidence intervals around these ratios suggested wide variability of cost effectiveness of aquatic exercise To study the effect of thermal mineral water of Nagybaracska ( Hungary ) on patients with primary knee osteoarthritis in a r and omized , double-blind clinical trial , 64 patients with nonsurgical knee joint osteoarthritis were r and omly selected either into the thermal mineral water or into the tap water group in a non-spa resort village . The patients of both groups received 30-min sessions of bathing , 5 days a week for four consecutive weeks . The patients were evaluated by a blind observer immediately before and at the end of the trial using Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis ( WOMAC ) indices and follow-up assessment 3 months later . Twenty-seven patients of the 32 patients who received thermal mineral water and 25 of the 32 of those treated with tap water completed the trial . The WOMAC activity , pain , and total scores improved significantly in the thermal mineral-water-treated group . The improvement remained also at the end of the 3-month follow-up . The WOMAC activity , pain , and total scores improved significantly also in the tap water group at the end of the treatment course , but no improvement was detected at the end of the 3-month follow-up period . The treatment with the thermal mineral water of Nagybaracska significantly improved activity , pain , and total WOMAC scores of patients with nonsurgical OA of the knee . Even after 3 months , significant improvement was observed compared to the scores before the treatment or to tap water treatment Background and Purpose Aquatic physical therapy is frequently used in the management of patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis ( OA ) , yet there is little research establishing its efficacy for this population . The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of aquatic physical therapy on hip or knee OA . Subjects A total of 71 volunteers with symptomatic hip OA or knee OA participated in this study . Methods The study was design ed as a r and omized controlled trial in which participants r and omly received 6 weeks of aquatic physical therapy or no aquatic physical therapy . Outcome measures included pain , physical function , physical activity levels , quality of life , and muscle strength . Results The intervention result ed in less pain and joint stiffness and greater physical function , quality of life , and hip muscle strength . Totals of 72 % and 75 % of participants reported improvements in pain and function , respectively , compared with only 17 % ( each ) of control participants . Benefits were maintained 6 weeks after the completion of physical therapy , with 84 % of participants continuing independently . Discussion and Conclusion Compared with no intervention , a 6-week program of aquatic physical therapy result ed in significantly less pain and improved physical function , strength , and quality of life . It is unclear whether the benefits were attributable to intervention effects or a placebo response OBJECTIVE To examine the reliability of postural sway assessment in women with lower extremity arthritis and to ascertain the effects of an aquatic exercise intervention program on these measures . DESIGN The reliability of postural sway measures was analyzed by within-subjects ( Subject times Trial ) analysis of variance ( ANOVA ) . The effects of aquatic exercise were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA using a planned comparison approach with an independent 2 x 2 ( Group times Test ) design . SETTING Testing in a motor control research laboratory ; aquatic exercise in a warm water pool at an area YMCA . PARTICIPANTS Volunteer sample , 24 women with lower extremity arthritis ( rheumatoid [ RA ] n = 11 , osteo [ OA ] n = 13 ) r and omly assigned into an aquatic exercise group  ( n = 14 ) or  control group  ( n = 10 ) . INTERVENTION  Postural sway measures under a two-legged stance test on two separate test days : day 1 , pretest ; day 2 , posttest , administered after a 6-week aquatic exercise program . RESULTS Reliability correlation coefficients for postural sway measures ranged from .64 to .94 for both subject groups . Aquatic exercise subjects significantly reduced lateral sway and total sway area scores ( by 18 % to 30 % ) under both visual conditions after the 6-week intervention . Postural sway scores were significantly higher under the no-vision condition than under the vision condition in each group for both test sessions . Both OA and RA groups had normal sagittal/lateral ratio scores . CONCLUSION Women with lower extremity arthritis can be reliably assessed on postural sway measures on a stable two-legged stance test . Although they had normal sagittal/lateral sway ratio scores ( ie , scores typical for nonarthritic peers ) , vision played an important role in their postural stability for this balance task . Aquatic exercise reduced postural sway in women with lower extremity arthritis , as demonstrated by a two-legged stance test , and this exercise program appears to be a viable treatment for increasing postural stability in this population CONTEXT R and omized trials with adequate sample size offer an opportunity to assess the safety of new medications in a controlled setting ; however , generalizable data on drug safety reporting are sparse . OBJECTIVE To scrutinize the completeness of safety reporting in r and omized trials .  DESIGN , SETTING , AND PATIENTS Survey of safety reporting in 192 r and omized drug trials 7 diverse topics with sample sizes of at least 100 patients and at least 50 patients in a study arm ( N = 130074 patients ) . Trial reports were identified from comprehensive meta-analyses in 7 medical areas . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Adequate reporting of specific adverse effects and frequency and reasons for withdrawals due to toxic effects ; article space allocated to safety reporting and predictors of such reporting . RESULTS Severity of clinical adverse effects and laboratory-determined toxicity was adequately defined in only 39 % and 29 % of trial reports , respectively . Only 46 % of trials stated the frequency of specific reasons for discontinuation of study treatment due to toxicity . For these 3 parameters , there was significant heterogeneity in rates of adequate reporting across topics ( P = .003 , P<.001 , and P = .02 , respectively ) . Overall , the median space allocated to safety results was 0.3 page . A similar amount of space was devoted to contributor names and affiliations ( P = .16 ) . On average , the percentage of space devoted to safety in the results section was 9.3 % larger in trials involving dose comparisons than in those that did not ( P<.001 ) and 3.8 % smaller in trials reporting statistically significant results for efficacy outcomes ( P = .047 ) . CONCLUSIONS The quality and quantity of safety reporting vary across medical areas , study design s , and setting s but they are largely inadequate . Current st and ards for safety reporting in r and omized trials should be revised to address this inadequacy Previous research suggests that water exercise improves the activities of daily living ( ADL ) ability of the frail elderly , but the specific frequency and intensity of such programs is unclear . This study aims at comparing the effects of once- and twice-weekly water exercise on the ADL ability of frail elderly receiving nursing care for 2 years . The design is a prospect i ve r and omized longitudinal study . Participants were assigned to two different exercise groups ( Group 1 and Group 2 ) . Group 1 participated in a 60-min exercise session once a week , for 2 years , while Group 2 attended the session twice a week . Exercise sessions were divided into a 10-min warm-up on l and and 50 min of exercise in water . The 50-min water exercise program consisted of 20 min walking , 10 min ADL exercise , 10 min stretching and strength exercises , and 10 min relaxation in water .  ADL ability and lower muscle strength were measured before the beginning of exercise and 6 months , 1 year , and 2 years after the program had started . Significant group differences occurred for bathing transfer and stair climbing at the 2-year measurement . These results suggested that at least twice-weekly water exercise was necessary to maintain the ADL ability and KEX of the frail elderly during the 1-year water exercise period and for one additional year afterward BACKGROUND Balneotherapy is an established treatment modality for musculoskeletal disease , but few studies have examined the efficacy of spa therapy 
    Output:
    
No serious adverse events were reported in the included trials with relation to aquatic exercise .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS There is moderate quality evidence that aquatic exercise may have small , short-term , and clinical ly relevant effects on patient-reported pain , disability , and QoL in people with knee and hip OA .