Manual therapy
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Can a within/between-session change in pain during reassessment predict outcome using a manual therapy intervention in patients with mechanical low back pain?
The purposes of the study were to determine whether the combined occurrence of within/between-session changes were significantly associated with functional outcomes, pain, and self-report of recovery in patients at discharge who were treated with manual therapy for low back pain. A secondary purpose was to determine the extent of change needed for the within/between-session change with association to function. The study involved 100 subjects who were part of a randomized controlled trial that examined manual therapy techniques who demonstrated a positive response to manual therapy during the initial assessment. ⋯ A 2-point change or greater on an 11-point scale is associated with functional recovery at discharge and accurately described the outcome in 67% of the cases. This is the first study that has shown an association of within/between-session changes with disability scores at discharge and is the first to define the extent of change necessary for prognosis of an outcome. A within/between-session change should be considered as a complimentary artifact along with other examination findings during clinical decision making.