Hydrotherapy and conventional physiotherapy improve total sleep time and quality of life of fibromyalgia patients: Randomized clinical trial

ObjectiveTo compare hydrotherapy (HT) and conventional physiotherapy (CP) in the treatment of fibromyalgia (FM), regarding quality of life (QOL), total sleep time (TST), and total nap time (TNT).MethodsFifty outpatients, all female, 30–60 years old, diagnosed with FM, were randomly assigned to two groups to carry out 3 weeks of treatment with HT or CP. In the beginning and in the end of treatment, patients were evaluated with the SF-36 questionnaire to measure QOL and the sleep diary for TST and TNT. Data analyses were blind.ResultsAll 24 HT patients increased 1 h in TST compared to 19 CP patients. TNT decreased in the HT group. QOL improved for the two groups in all domains when pre- and post-intervention were compared, but there was no difference between groups.ConclusionHT is more effective than CP to improve TST and to decrease TNT in FM patients.