• Rahel Stoop, Ron Clijsen, Diego Leoni, Emiliano Soldini, Greta Castellini, Valentina Redaelli, and Marco Barbero.
• Rehabilitation Research Laboratory 2rLab, Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Landquart, Manno, Switzerland. Electronic address: rahel.stoop@supsi.ch.
• Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2017 Aug 1; 30: 1-9.

BackgroundThe methodological quality of controlled clinical trials (CCTs) of physiotherapeutic treatment modalities for myofascial trigger points (MTrP) has not been investigated yet.ObjectivesTo detect the methodological quality of CCTs for physiotherapy treatments of MTrPs and demonstrating the possible increase over time.DesignSystematic review.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in two databases, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and Medicine Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System online (MEDLINE), using the same keywords and selection procedure corresponding to pre-defined inclusion criteria. The methodological quality, assessed by the 11-item PEDro scale, served as outcome measure. The CCTs had to compare at least two interventions, where one intervention had to lay within the scope of physiotherapy. Participants had to be diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome or trigger points (active or latent).ResultsA total of n = 230 studies was analysed. The cervico-thoracic region was the most frequently treated body part (n = 143). Electrophysical agent applications was the most frequent intervention. The average methodological quality reached 5.5 on the PEDro scale. A total of n = 6 studies scored the value of 9. The average PEDro score increased by 0.7 points per decade between 1978 and 2015.ConclusionsThe average PEDro score of CCTs for MTrP treatments does not reach the cut-off of 6 proposed for moderate to high methodological quality. Nevertheless, a promising trend towards an increase of the average methodological quality of CCTs for MTrPs was recorded. More high-quality CCT studies with thorough research procedures are recommended to enhance methodological quality.Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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