In the authors' words
“Contrary to prior reviews, our analysis demonstrated that aquatic exercise has no positive impact on pain physical function, stiffness, activities of daily living, sport and quality of life in elderly women with knee osteoarthritis.”
What was measured
- Joint pain No difference found
- Quality of life No difference found
About the study
- Type
- Meta-analysis
- Who took part
- Postmenopausal, osteoarthritis or joint pain
- How many
- 432
- Exercise
- Water-based exercise
- Cited
- 4 times, per Europe PMC
- PubMed ID
- 31062542
How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.
Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.
Similar studies
- A meta-analysis of 16 trials with 594 postmenopausal women found aquatic exercise improved limb strength, agility, flexibility, and quality of life, but not aerobic capacity.
- A meta-analysis of 23 trials in people with osteoporosis, 95 percent female with an average age of 67, found exercise such as resistance training, balance training and Pilates improved mental health, quality of life and pain.
- Middle-aged women with fibromyalgia did a 16 week aquatic exercise program and researchers found fewer tender points and improved sleep and cognitive function, with no change in anxiety.
- In postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis, 16 weeks of aquatic resistance training changed cartilage composition on MRI and improved cardiorespiratory fitness by 9.8% compared with controls.