Effects of water immersion therapy on pain: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.

A systematic evaluation of water immersion therapy (WIT) for pain relief. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, Wiley Online Library, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). The data were analyzed using the standardized mean difference (SMD) with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The results demonstrated that WIT significantly reduced Visual analogue scale scores (SMD= -1.08, P< 0.0001). Subgroup analysis indicated that WIT monotherapy was associated with a more significant improvement in pain (P< 0.0001). WIT was found to be more effective in improving pain for patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (P< 0.0001), Musculoskeletal Disorders (P= 0.0001), Chronic Pain (P= 0.0003), and in patients with a mean age of 62-68 years (P< 0.0001). Additionally, a water temperature of 37-40˚C (P= 0.0004), an intervention frequency of three times per week, a duration of 10 minutes per session, and a total intervention period of 10 weeks were associated with more significant pain relief (P< 0.0001).