The Aquatic Therapy Evidence Library (Hot List™)

The Evidence Library (Hot List™) is the Aquatic Therapy Foundation's free, searchable list of published English-language research on aquatic therapy, mainly peer-reviewed journal articles. For each paper it shows the outcome measures, sample size, intervention and key finding, each labelled with its source.

The Aquatic Therapy Foundation publishes the Evidence Library at aquatictherapyfoundation.org. The list is © ATU Educational Services, LLC and licensed to the Foundation for public education. The Foundation did not conduct the studies it lists. Read the full disclosure below.

• Outcome measures, sample size, intervention and key finding.
• A source label on each item: the PubMed abstract or, when a free full text was available, its Methods.
• Nothing inferred: “Not stated” is shown when the source does not say.
• The key finding is a sentence quoted from the abstract conclusion.
• PEDro scores come from the PEDro database. They were not rated by the Foundation.

• Type in the search box and press Search (or the Enter key).
• Tap a quick-start button. “Find high quality studies” shows the higher-quality trials.
• Narrow the list with the filters. The Profession filter lists a paper under a profession only when its title or abstract names that profession.
• Click a column heading to sort.
• Click the arrow at the start of a title for study type, population and notes.

Each tile opens the Evidence Library in a new tab with that search already filled in. Results change as papers are added.

Open the Evidence Library

• The Aquatic Therapy Foundation did not conduct these studies, and listing a paper is not an endorsement.
• The list is for education, not medical advice.
• The PEDro Score > 5/10 filter uses a convenient cutoff chosen for this list, not a validated quality threshold.
• PEDro states that its poor, fair, good and excellent bands have not been validated, and for complex interventions such as exercise, 8/10 is the practical maximum, because therapists and participants usually cannot be blinded.
• It is a beta release, so content may change. Check current research and your own scope of practice.

PEDro source, as given on the Foundation's page: Cashin AG, McAuley JH. Clinimetrics: Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) Scale. J Physiother 2020;66(1):59. doi:10.1016/j.jphys.2019.08.005

Last updated October 19, 2026. For education only, not medical advice.

Aquatic Therapy University teaches aquatic therapy to rehabilitation professionals through live seminars, private training and on-demand courses. Some of the methods ATU teaches are described in the Encyclopedia.