Lolita Rapolienė, Artūras Razbadauskas, Jonas Sąlyga, Sigitas Petrauskas, Arvydas Martinkėnas

Abstract

Study objective: to evaluate the impact of new originhigh salinity geothermal water for reinforcingthe comprehensive health of seamen and explorethe safety profile of water. Methods. 180 seamenwere randomized into three groups: geothermal (65)which has got 108 g/l salinity geothermal water bathfor 2 weeks daily five times a week, music group(50) which has received music therapy at home, 65participants have got no treatment. Outcomes measures:systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heartand breathing rate, skin temperature, fingertip-floordistance, joint mobility failures, mood scale, VASpain scale, 5-point Likert‘s well-being scale and cognitivefailures questionnaire (CFQ). Safety was assessedfor effects on the cardiopulmonary systemand the side effects. The statistical analysis of thedata was performed by using the SPSS21 softwarepackage.Results: after the 2 weeks in geothermal group reducedblood pressure, heart and breathing rate(p<0.001); pain (p<0.001), skin temperature(p<0.05), improved spine (p <0.05) and joint mobility(p <0.001), general well-being (p<0.001), mood(p<0.001) and cognitive functions (p=0.001) wereobserved. In the music therapy group reduced breathingrate (p<0.01), pain (p<0.05) and improvedgeneral well-being (p<0.01) were observed. Adverseevents were rare in both groups. No significantchanges were observed in the control group.Conclusions: the balneotherapy using very high salinitygeothermal waters has multiple health-enhancingeffects and is safe for seamen.

Keyword(s): balneotherapy, geothermal water, seamen health
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2014.125
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