{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T07:12:29Z","timestamp":1772003549895,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,5]],"date-time":"2024-09-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725494400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Epidemiological data indicate that low back pain (LBP) affected 619 million people globally in 2020, representing a significant health and economic burden. Additionally, chronic LBP (cLBP) strongly impairs quality of life and leads to disability and premature retirement, thus emphasizing the need for providing deeper insight into the factors that affect treatment outcomes and for offering thorough guidance for the assessment and management of this condition. Taking into consideration the rising prevalence of cLBP and the knowledge gap referring to the overall health benefits of balneotherapy (BT), the aim of this study was to assess the effects of BT on functional status, quality of life, and psychological symptoms in patients with cLBP. Methods: Among 220 patients from the database, two groups were retrospectively identified: patients receiving conventional pharmacological therapy (CT) and patients receiving BT. The effectiveness of the treatment was assessed through a visual analog scale for pain intensity, EuroQol (EQ-5D), and the Work Ability Index Questionnaire. In order to provide deeper insight into the quality of life and also factors associated with functional status and mental health affected by BT, we also used the Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire and the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results: Both age and treatment protocol were found to have a significant impact on all observed parameters, i.e., older patients and those receiving CT tended to report lower overall health and physical functioning. On the other hand, BT was associated with better functionality and disability perception status. Conclusions: Understanding the association between individual perceptions of functionality and its emotional and social elements provides a basis for providing comprehensive guidelines and recommendations for cLBP management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13175248","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,5]],"date-time":"2024-09-05T02:34:06Z","timestamp":1725503646000},"page":"5248","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Novel Insight into the Association between Balneotherapy and Functional State and Health Perception in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Dragana","family":"Terzic Markovic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sanja","family":"Kocic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jovana","family":"Bradic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"},{"name":"Center of Excellence for Redox Balance Research in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Jurisic-Skevin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"},{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University Clinical Center of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Biljana","family":"Jakovljevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Biljana","family":"Majstorovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zvonko","family":"Dimoski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Goran","family":"Stojanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vesna","family":"Maksimovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-5588-3634","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katarina","family":"Pavlovic Jugovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marijana","family":"Dabic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danijela","family":"Jezdimirovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The College of Health Science, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sandra","family":"Zivanovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, University of Kragujevac, 36210 Vrnja\u010dka Banja, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nicol, V., Verdaguer, C., Daste, C., Bisseriex, H., Lapeyre, \u00c9., Lef\u00e8vre-Colau, M.-M., Rannou, F., R\u00f6ren, A., Facione, J., and Nguyen, C. 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