The effects of the watsu method on functional capacity, anxiety and depression in patients with parkinson disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive pathology that results from the degeneration of the black substance responsible for the voluntary control of movements. The reduction of dopamine generates motor and non-motor symptoms that hinder the mobility of the patient and the execution of their activities of daily living. The Watsu method relieves pain, tension and releases the muscles, fascias and spine leading to the gain of flexibility and range of motion, and can be a facilitator in reducing the symptoms of PD. The aim was to evaluate the effects of the Watsu method on motor and non-motor symptoms and their relation with the functional capacity of these individuals. This is an experimental study applied to 4 male patients diagnosed with PD. The analyzed variables were: anxiety, depression, quality of life, basic and instrumental activities of daily living and balance. 9 Watsu sessions was applied. Student's t-test (paired sample) was carried out to compare the variables studied. There was no significant improvement in the variables analyzed, but there was a tendency for improvement in quality of life variables (before 38.75 and later 36.50), depression (before 23 and after 21.25) and instrumental activities of daily living (before 19.50 and later 20.75). For the variables anxiety, basic activities of daily living and balance there was no improvement of these variables. It was observed that the Watsu method trends to improve motor and no-motor symptoms that affect the PD patients. In addition, there is still a lack in the literature in studies that use the Watsu method as a treatment for both PD and other diseases.

Applications, indications, and effects of passive hydrotherapy WATSU (WaterShiatsu)—A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The five articles included in the meta-analysis on mental effects (with a total of 78 participants, 62 of them receiving WATSU) reported comparable quantitative data related to fibromyalgia [8,57,58], neurological disorders [61], and pregnancy [9]. Mental effects were assessed by the Mental Health Subscale of the SF-36 [8,58], the Geriatric Depression Inventory (GDI 15) [57], the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) [61], and VAS (stress) [9]. The overall effect size was Hedges's g = -0.68 (95% CI = -1.02 to -0.35) in favor of WATSU (Fig 4).…”

“…The remaining 20 studies reported on repeated measure designs involving within-group comparisons (14 case series, CSs [13,[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] including a collection of narrative retrospective reports [21]), and on single cases (6 CRs) [11,[31][32][33][34][35]. Tools chosen for assessment of the effects of WATSU considered physical and mental aspects.…”

“…Effect of WATSU on physical function. The ten articles included in the meta-analysis on physical function (with a total of 123 participants, 109 of them receiving WATSU) reported comparable quantitative data on gains of physical function related to fibromyalgia [8,58], occupational stress [59], neurological disorders [10,13,60,61], pregnancy [9], juvenile idiopathic arthritis [51], and healthy individuals [54]. To record effects of WATSU on physical function, range of motion was measured [54,59] or assessed by the Global Range of Motion Scale (GROMS) [51].…”

“…To record effects of WATSU on physical function, range of motion was measured [54,59] or assessed by the Global Range of Motion Scale (GROMS) [51]. Also, the Tone Assessment Scale (TAS) [10,13], the modified Ashworth Scale [60], the Physical Function Subscale of the SF-36 [8,9,58], and the Katz index [61] were used. The overall effect size was Hedges's g = -0.76 (95% CI = -1.08 to -0.44) in favor of WATSU (Fig 3).…”

“…The studies reported on short-term effects measured immediately pre-and post-treatment [54,59], and on effects measured after one [9], two [8], five [58,61], eight [13,60], and ten weeks of treatment [51]. One study did not report on the applied timeframe [10].…”