Application areas and effects of aquatic therapy WATSU – A survey among practitioners

Introduction: WATSU (WaterShiatsu) is a treatment administered in warm water. The present study investigated if
and how frequently scientifically studied application areas and effects of WATSU occur in practice, whether
similar effectiveness of WATSU is observed in trials and practice, and whether practitioners can contribute
additional application areas and effects of WATSU.
Methods: Application areas and effects of WATSU reported in a recent systematic review were extracted verbatim
to be assessed in a worldwide multilingual cross section online survey, generating quantitative and qualitative
data. A pre-test and retest were conducted to ensure quality and evaluate the questionnaire’s psychometric
properties.
Results: Answers of 191 respondents were processed. All proposed 26 application areas and 20 effects were
confirmed, each with relatively high ratings of observed effectiveness of WATSU. WATSU was frequently applied
in healthy individuals (including during pregnancy), and individuals in various pain- (e.g., low back pain, neck
pain, myofascial pain, fibromyalgia) and stress-related (e.g., stress, depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, anxiety
disorders) conditions. Frequently confirmed effects were physical relaxation, relief of physical tension, pain
relief, increased mobility and flexibility, improved quality of life, spiritual experiences, and increased psychological
health. Respondents contributed 73 additional application areas and effects (both, mental and physical) of
WATSU.
Conclusions: Application areas and effects of WATSU are consistently employed practically and scientifically.
Respondents’ ratings of effectiveness of WATSU match tentative research efforts. WATSU is cautiously recommended
for the use in pain- and stress-related conditions. Short- and long-term effectiveness of WATSU need to
be evaluated in high level intervention studies.