Effects of Passive Hydrotherapy WATSU (WaterShiatsu) in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy: Results of a Controlled Pilot Study

Table 5

Analyses of short-term changes in outcome measures between the intervention and the control group.

Variables^a	Δ values		^b	Cohen’s
	Intervention group before and after WATSU	Control group before and after 2 hours waiting period
VAS stressfulness (mm)^c
(i) At day 1	−21 (±22)	−3 (±11)	0.090
(ii) At day 4	−14 (±14)	+1 (±12)	0.021	0.61
VAS pain (mm)^c
(i) At day 1	−8 (±9)	−1 (±4)	0.037	0.51
(ii) At day 4	−11 (±11)	+3 (±10)	0.005	0.72
MDMQ mood scale score^d
(i) At day 1	+1.8 (±1.9)	+0.5 (±2.51)	0.175
(ii) At day 4	+4.7 (±6.2)	−0.1 (±1.13)	0.013	0.56
MDMQ alertness scale score^d
(i) At day 1	+2.1 (±3.6)	+0.1 (±1.2)	0.200
(ii) At day 4	+5.7 (±4.7)	+0.4 (±1.2)	0.001	0.79
MDMQ calmness scale score^d
(i) At day 1	4.6 (±3.0)	−0.3 (±1.9)	0.002	0.96
(ii) At day 4	5.6 (±5.8)	−0.5 (±2.2)	0.008	0.71

All continuous data are presented as mean (SD).
^b values refer to Mann-Whitney test. P > 0.05; CI 95%.
^cVAS, Visual Analog Scale; positive mean change values represent an increase in actual stress (actual pain).
^dMDMQ, Multidimensional-Mood-Questionnaire; positive mean change values represent an increase in mood, alertness, and calmness.