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Research Article: Clinical effects of Kneipp hydrotherapy: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Date Published: 2023-07-09

Abstract:
Objective Hydrotherapy is a traditional prevention and treatment strategy. This study’s aim is to systematically review all available randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating clinical effects of hydrotherapy according to Kneipp which is characterised by cold water applications. Methods RCTs on disease therapy and prevention with Kneipp hydrotherapy were included. Study participants were patients and healthy volunteers of all age groups. MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Central, CAMbase, and opengrey.eu were systematically searched through April 2021 without language restrictions and updated by searching PubMed until April 6th 2023. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool version 1. Results Twenty RCTs (N=4247) were included. Due to high heterogeneity of the RCTs, no meta-analysis was performed. Risk of bias was rated as unclear in most of the domains. Of 132 comparisons, 46 showed significant positive effects in favour of hydrotherapy on chronic venous insufficiency, menopausal symptoms, fever, cognition, emotional function and sickness absenteeism. However, 81 comparisons showed no differences between groups and 5 were in favour of the respective control group. Only half of the studies reported safety issues. Conclusion Although RCTs on Kneipp hydrotherapy seem to show positive effects in some conditions and outcomes, it remains difficult to ascertain treatment effects due to the high risk of bias and heterogeneity of most of the considered studies. Further high-quality RCTs on Kneipp hydrotherapy are urgently warranted. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021237611.

Introduction:
Hydrotherapy according to Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897) is the most famous of the five interlocking individual components of the therapeutic Kneipp naturopathy concept, consisting of what today would be grouped into lifestyle and mind-body interventions, healthy nutrition, exercise, phytotherapy and hydrotherapy. Kneipp’s hydrotherapy (KH) distinguishes between more than 100 different water applications including washing, pouring, bathing, wrapping, steaming and packing for disease prevention and therapy. KH is…

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