Physical therapy
-
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses often include an evaluation of the methodological quality of the individual studies that have been included, and are usually conducted by at least 2 individuals. The objective of this study was to assess the methodological quality and reliability of a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions by use of the 10-item Physiotherapy Evidence-Based Database (PEDro) Scale. ⋯ The methodological quality for pharmacological interventions was significantly higher than that for nonpharmacological interventions. There was good agreement between raters at an individual item level and in total PEDro scores. A lack of reporting clarity, poor organization of the report, or the failure to include salient details contributed to less-than-perfect agreement between raters.
-
Although interferential therapy (IFT) is used widely in the management of many painful conditions, the effectiveness and the mechanism of action of IFT in animal models of inflammatory pain have not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of IFT in reducing inflammatory pain and edema in rats. ⋯ The results suggest that, despite its short-duration effect, IFT is effective in reducing inflammatory pain and should be considered primarily for use in the control of acute inflammatory pain.