• Chang-Gon Kim, Su-Jeong Mun, Ka-Na Kim, Byung-Cheul Shin, Nam-Kwen Kim, Dong-Hyo Lee, and Jung-Han Lee.
• Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Won-Kwang University, Iksan, Korea.
• BMJ Open. 2016 May 13; 6 (5): e010556.

IntroductionManual therapy is the non-surgical conservative management of musculoskeletal disorders using the practitioner's hands on the patient's body for diagnosing and treating disease. The aim of this study is to systematically review trial-based economic evaluations of manual therapy relative to other interventions used for the management of musculoskeletal diseases.Methods And AnalysisRandomised clinical trials (RCTs) on the economic evaluation of manual therapy for musculoskeletal diseases will be included in the review. The following databases will be searched from their inception: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Econlit, Mantis, Index to Chiropractic Literature, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), National Health Service Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (NHS DARE), National Health Service Health Technology Assessment Database (NHS HTA), National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), CENTRAL, five Korean medical databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), Research Information Service System (RISS), DBPIA, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal (KTKP) and KoreaMed) and three Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP and Wanfang). The evidence for the cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit of manual therapy for musculoskeletal diseases will be assessed as the primary outcome. Health-related quality of life and adverse effects will be assessed as secondary outcomes. We will critically appraise the included studies using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Drummond checklist. Results will be summarised using Slavin's qualitative best-evidence synthesis approach.Ethics And DisseminationThe results of the study will be disseminated via a peer-reviewed journal and/or conference presentations.Trial Registration NumberPROSPERO CRD42015026757.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

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