Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialPrevalence of radiographic findings in individuals with chronic low back pain screened for a randomized controlled trial: secondary analysis and clinical implications.
The purpose of this study is to measure the prevalence of graded disc degeneration, spondylolisthesis, transitional segmentation, and the distribution of sacral slope in patients 21 to 65 years of age with chronic low back pain (CLBP). ⋯ Moderate-severe disc degeneration, multilevel disc narrowing, and degenerative spondylolisthesis were common in individuals with CLBP with age more than 40 years. Isthmic spondylolisthesis was not more prevalent than what has been reported in other populations. Transitional segmentation was identified in a minority of participants, with some of these exhibiting accessory joints or fusion. Mean sacral slope in individuals with CLBP was not substantially different from mean slopes reported in other populations.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyImmediate effects of active versus passive scapular correction on pain and pressure pain threshold in patients with chronic neck pain.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of active vs passive scapular correction on pain and pressure pain threshold at the most symptomatic cervical segment in patients with chronic neck pain. ⋯ An active scapular correction exercise resulted in an immediate reduction of pain and pressure pain sensitivity in patients with chronic neck pain and scapular dysfunction.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialExploring patient satisfaction: a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of spinal manipulation, home exercise, and medication for acute and subacute neck pain.
The purpose of this study was to assess satisfaction with specific aspects of care for acute neck pain and explore the relationship between satisfaction with care, neck pain, and global satisfaction. ⋯ Individuals with acute/subacute neck pain were more satisfied with specific aspects of care received during spinal manipulation therapy or home exercise interventions compared to receiving medication. The relationship between neck pain and satisfaction with care was weak.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Oct 2014
Lumbar spinal stenosis and lower extremity motor control: the impact of walking-induced strain on a performance-based outcome measure.
The primary objective of this study was to quantify the lower extremity movements and capabilities of a population with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) compared with healthy age-matched controls under conditions of strain and no strain. The secondary objective was to identify challenging movement conditions for a population with LSS, on a lower limb aiming task with different levels of difficulty, compared with healthy age-matched controls under conditions of strain and no strain. ⋯ A lower extremity movement task captured differences under strain between healthy and LSS populations. The lower extremity Fitts' Law task accurately measured differences between healthy and LSS participants. For the subjects in this study, strain was sufficient to prevent LSS patients from demonstrating improvement in the variability of the ballistic phase of movement execution, whereas LSS patients' movement performance remained unchanged. This study also showed that regardless of strain, as task difficulty increased, LSS patients were more adversely impacted in the planning and execution of their lower limb movements than healthy control participants. The lower extremity motor control task (Fitts' task) can be used as a performance-based outcome measure to measure differences between healthy and LSS populations.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Oct 2014
The risk of bias and sample size of trials of spinal manipulative therapy for low back and neck pain: analysis and recommendations.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in methodological quality and sample size in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for neck and low back pain over a specified period. A secondary purpose was to make recommendations for improvement for future SMT trials based upon our findings. ⋯ Methodological quality of RCTs of SMT for neck and low back pain is improving, whereas overall sample size has shown only small and nonsignificant increases. There is an increasing trend among studies to conduct sample size calculations, which relate to statistical power. Based upon these findings, 7 areas of improvement for future SMT trials are suggested.