Effectiveness of aquatic versus land physiotherapy in the treatment of peripheral neuropathies: a randomized controlled trial:

Objective:To compare the effects on gait and balance of aquatic physiotherapy versus on-land training, in the context of an inpatient rehabilitation treatment tailored for peripheral neuropathies.Design:Parallel-group, single-center, single-blind randomized controlled trial.Subjects and setting:Consecutive patients affected by peripheral neuropathy admitted in our Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit.Interventions:Patients received a four-week rehabilitation program composed by daily sessions of conventional physiotherapy and three sessions/week of specific treatment (aquatic vs. on-land).Main measures:Primary outcome measures were Berg Balance Scale and Dynamic Gait Index. Secondary outcome measures were Neuropathic Pain Scale, Overall Neuropathy Limitations Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Functional Ambulation Classification, Conley Scale and Medical Research Council Scale score for the strength of hip and ankle flexor and extensor muscles. For each scale, we calculated the difference between the scores at...