Scandinavian journal of primary health care
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialA controlled, multicentre trial of manual therapy in low-back pain. Initial status, sick-leave and pain score during follow-up.
101 outpatients with acute or subacute low-back pain were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups. One group was given standardized conventional but optimal activating treatment by primary health care teams. The other group received manual treatment such as manipulation, specific mobilization, muscle stretching, auto-traction, and cortisone injections. ⋯ The difference diminished over time but was still significant after eight months. Two slightly different pain scores ("pain at the moment" and "pain during the last weeks"), initially similar in the two groups, diminished in both groups but were significantly lower in the manual treatment group during the study. The group receiving specific manual treatment thus had a significantly better outcome than the group receiving conventional treatment as far as sick-leave and pain score are concerned.