title: [Effects of natural factors of Niska Banja spa on indexes of mobility of vertebral column in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ankylosing spondilitis (AS) is a disease from a group of seronegative spondyloarthropathies with the prevalence of 0.1% affecting mainly young males, which also gives sociomedical significance to the disease. Among all inflammatory arthropathies, AS is the most suitable for balneotherapy. Thermomineral water of the Niska Banja spa is homeothermic, oligomineral, alkaline, low radioactive radon water and also, in conjunction with mineral peloid, is considered to be optimal for this indication.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to investigate the effects of natural factors of the Niska Banja spa as a part of complex treatment on the indexes of mobility of the vertebral column in the patients with AS.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study enrolled 40 patients with the average age of 48.0 +/-14.82 years and the average duration of disease of 16.9 +/- 6.42 years. Patients were treated with hydro- and peloidotherapy during the average of 17.23 +/- 2.71 days. At the beginning and at the end of treatment, a number of indexes of spinal mobility were measured. The statistical significance of differences was calculated using the Student's t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the measured indexes were better after balneotherapy reaching statistically significant differences in regard to the wall-to-occiput distance (p < 0.05), the index of sagittal mobility of the cervical (p < 0.05) and lumbar (p < 0.005) spine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of natural factors of the Niska Banja spa during complex treatment of the patients with AS is accompanied with the objective increase of the spine mobility.
authors.forename: Jovan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nedović
authors.forename: Bojana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stamenković
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stojanović
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stanković
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimić
mesh_terms: D001452:Balneology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D013131:Spine / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*