%0 Journal Article
%T Is dry heat treatment (fluidotherapy) effective in improving hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? A randomized controlled trial
%A Didem Erdem
%A Dilek Solmaz
%A Fato£¿ £¿nen
%A H¨¹lya Ellidokuz
%A Nihan Erdin£¿ G¨¹nd¨¹z
%A Ramazan K£¿z£¿l
%A Selmin G¨¹lbahar
%J Clinical Rehabilitation
%@ 1477-0873
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0269215518810778
%X To evaluate the efficacy of dry heat treatment (fluidotherapy) in improving hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Prospective randomized controlled trial. Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Rheumatology in a university hospital. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis. All patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 underwent dry heat treatment (fluidotherapy) and Group 2 was a control group. Patients in both groups participated in a joint protection and exercise program. Primary outcome measures were Health Assessment Questionnaire and Duruoz Hand Index. Secondary outcome measures were pain and stiffness, Grip Ability Test, Disease Activity Score-28, and grip strength. These assessments were performed at the hospital at baseline, week 3, and week 12. A total of 93 participants were allocated to Group 1 (n£¿=£¿47) and Group 2 (n£¿=£¿46). The mean age of these groups was 54.19£¿¡À£¿11.15£¿years and 53.00£¿¡À£¿10.15£¿years, respectively (P£¿=£¿0.592). At baseline, there were no significant differences between the groups in any parameter except significantly poorer Health Assessment Questionnaire score in Group 1 (P£¿=£¿0.007). At week 3, there were no significant differences between the groups in any of the parameters (P£¿>£¿0.005). At week 12, Duruoz Hand Index scores were significantly better in Group 2 (P£¿=£¿0.039). Dry heat treatment (fluidotherapy) was not effective in improving hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, no positive effect on any other clinical parameters was observed
%K Rheumatoid arthritis
%K hand function
%K dry heat treatment
%K fluidotherapy
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269215518810778