Reliability of the DIERS Formetric 4D Spine Shape Parameters in Adults without Postural Deformities.

The DIERS formetric 4D provides a safe method to monitor and track the progression of postural deformities over time. However, further evaluation of reliability is necessary. Reference values are also needed to indicate postural change.

Characteristics and Treatment of Pediatric Patients in an Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Clinic.

Context: Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) is recognized as an adjunctive medical approach for the treatment of pediatric patients, but few studies have detailed the pediatric conditions that prompt the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) or the types and frequency of OMT used.

Objective: To present descriptive data of pediatric patients receiving OMT from a neuromusculoskeletal medicine/OMM outpatient clinic.

Methods: Data were drawn from electronic health records from a single outpatient specialty clinic for pediatric clinical encounters involving OMT that took place between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016.

Who Uses Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment? A Prospective, Observational Study Conducted by DO-Touch.NET.

Context: Information about the characteristics of patients who use osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is limited.

Objective: To determine the scope of conditions being managed with OMT and describe the characteristics of patients who receive OMT.

Methods: Researchers conducted a longitudinal, observational study on the use and effectiveness of OMT at 17 clinics where clinicians (ie, osteopathic and allopathic physicians and Canadian-trained osteopaths) provided OMT.

Building a Collaborative Model of Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction and Pelvic Girdle Pain to Understand the Diverse Perspectives of Experts.

Background: Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) and sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction/pain are considered frequent contributors to low back pain (LBP). Like other persistent pain conditions, PGP is increasingly recognized as a multifactorial problem involving biological, psychological, and social factors. Perspectives differ between experts and a diversity of treatments (with variable degrees of evidence) have been utilized.

Tool for Predicting Medical Student Burnout From Sustained Stress Levels: Factor Analysis of the Medical Education Hassles Scale-R.

Context: Acute stress during medical school affects the health of students and is associated with burnout. The Medical Education Hassles Scale-R (MEHS-R) is designed to measure acute stress among medical students. Researchers using the MEHS-R primarily report overall hassles scores, which are unable to discriminate between different categories of hassles encountered.

Influence of Transverse Process Landmark Localization on Palpation Accuracy of Lumbar Spine Models.

Context: Accurate determination of transverse process displacement in the horizontal plane requires accurate transverse process landmark localization followed by accurate discrimination of asymmetry by the examiner's palpating digits.

Objective: To determine whether the accurate localization of transverse process landmarks influences overall accuracy of asymmetry determination in third-year osteopathic medical students evaluating covered lumbar spine models.

Methods: A class of third-year osteopathic medical students was split into 2 groups and asked to determine whether the right transverse processes of covered lumbar spine models were anterior or posterior relative to the left transverse process.

Characterizing Adverse Events Reported Immediately After Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment.

Context: Although adverse events in various types of manual therapy have been previously investigated, little is known about the incidence and types of adverse events that occur after osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT).

Objective: To estimate the incidence and characterize the types of adverse events that patients report after OMT and prior to leaving the office to increase the likelihood of identifying adverse events caused by OMT.

Methods: As part of a prospective study evaluating the use and effectiveness of OMT, patients assessed how they felt immediately after OMT compared with before OMT using a 5-point ordinal rating scale (much better, better, about the same, worse, much worse).

Changes in Cytokines, Sensory Tests, and Self-reported Pain Levels After Manual Treatment of Low Back Pain.

Study Design: Unbalanced 3-factor design with repeated measures on 1 factor.

Objective: To determine the effect of manual treatment (MT) on cytokine and pain sensations in those with and without low back pain (LBP).

Summary Of Background Data: Evidence suggests that MT reduces LBP but by unknown mechanisms.

Multicenter Osteopathic Pneumonia Study in the Elderly: Subgroup Analysis on Hospital Length of Stay, Ventilator-Dependent Respiratory Failure Rate, and In-hospital Mortality Rate.

Context: Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a promising adjunctive treatment for older adults hospitalized for pneumonia.

Objective: To report subgroup analyses from the Multicenter Osteopathic Pneumonia Study in the Elderly (MOPSE) relating to hospital length of stay (LOS), ventilator-dependent respiratory failure rate, and in-hospital mortality rate.

Design: Multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Effects of pressure applied during standardized spinal mobilizations on peripheral skin blood flow: A randomised cross-over study.

Background: Peripheral skin blood flow (SBF) changes during and after spinal mobilization (SM), evaluated with laser Doppler flowmetry, may document physiological responses associated with SM.

Objectives: To document variations in SBF during and after application of an SM and evaluate influence of pressure on SBF by applying the same standardized SM with 3 different nonnoxious pressures.

Design: Cross-over design with 4 interventions on 4 different days: control (no touch) and 3 SMs applied rhythmically at 5%, 40%, or 80% of pain pressure threshold (sham SM, low-pressure SM, or high-pressure SM, respectively).

Laser Doppler flowmetry in manual medicine research.

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is commonly used in combination with reactivity tests to noninvasively evaluate skin sympathetic nerve activity and skin microvascular function. In manual medicine research, LDF has been used as a marker for global peripheral sympathetic nervous system function, but these results should be considered with caution because skin sympathetic nerve activity physiology is often overlooked. Another limitation of LDF in manual medicine research is the processing of LDF recordings.

Changes in rat spinal cord gene expression after inflammatory hyperalgesia of the joint and manual therapy.

Context: Mobilization of a joint affects local tissue directly but may also have other effects that are mediated through the central nervous system.

Objective: To identify differential gene expression in the spinal cords of rats with or without inflammatory joint injury after manual therapy or no treatment.

Methods: Rats were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups: no injury and no touch (NI/NT), injury and no touch (I/NT), no injury and manual therapy (NI/MT), and injury and manual therapy (I/MT).

Assessment of skin blood flow following spinal manual therapy: a systematic review.

Skin blood flow (SBF) indexes have been used to describe physiological mechanisms associated with spinal manual therapy (SMT). The aims of the current review were to assess methods for data collection, assess how investigators interpreted SBF changes, and formulate recommendations to advance manual medicine research. A database search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane Library, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature through April 2014.

Assessing palpation thresholds of osteopathic medical students using static models of the lumbar spine.

Context: Although spinal somatic dysfunction diagnosis is taught at all colleges of osteopathic medicine, few objective measures have been used to evaluate student accuracy.

Objective: To assess the palpatory skills of osteopathic medical students in evaluating positional asymmetry in the transverse plane using static block transverse process and lumbar spine models.

Methods: For this observational study, first-year osteopathic medical students completed 3 palpatory assessments using uncovered and covered block transverse process and lumbar spine models to simulate a range of positional asymmetries of the transverse processes.

Association of low back pain, somatic dysfunction, and lumbar bone mineral density: reproducibility of findings.

Context: Somatic dysfunction as diagnosed by palpation should be associated with an objective measure. Bone mineral density (BMD) has been shown to be elevated in lumbar vertebrae with somatic dysfunction and in the lumbar region of individuals with chronic low back pain (LBP).

Objective: To investigate the association of lumbar somatic dysfunction and BMD T-score variability in participants with chronic LBP and without LBP (non-LBP) and to determine the reproducibility of previously published results.

Preliminary findings on the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment: outcomes during the formation of the practice-based research network, DO-Touch.NET.

Context: Few studies have assessed the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) and subsequent patient-reported outcomes.

Objective: To assess the current use of OMT and associated patient-reported outcomes.

Design: A retrospective medical record review and a prospective observational study.

The persistence of lumbar somatic dysfunction and its association with bone mineral density.

Context: Clinically meaningful somatic dysfunction, if left untreated, should persist over time and be associated with objective measurable findings.

Objective: To investigate the persistence of lumbar somatic dysfunction over 8 weeks and the association of that persistence with lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) T scores.

Methods: Individuals were assessed at 0, 4, and 8 weeks for the presence and severity of paraspinal tissue texture abnormalities (TTA), vertebral rotational asymmetry, anterior motion restriction, and tenderness from L1 to L4.

Influence of manual therapy on functional mobility after joint injury in a rat model.

Context: Animal models can be used to investigate manual therapy mechanisms, but testing manipulation in animal models is problematic because animals cannot directly report their pain.

Objective: To develop a rat model of inflammatory joint injury to test the efficacy of manual therapy in reducing nociception and restoring function.

Methods: The authors induced acute inflammatory joint injury in rats by injecting carrageenan into the ankle and then measured voluntary running wheel activity in treated and untreated rats.

Palpatory accuracy of lumbar spinous processes using multiple bony landmarks.

Objective: Accurate localization of vertebral segments is crucial for many treatment procedures. The objective of this study was to determine accuracy of identification of lumbar spinous process levels by palpation.

Methods: Three examiners independently identified the spinous processes of L1-L4 on 60 prone volunteers using multiple bony landmarks including the sacral base, L5, Tuffier's line, T12, and the 12th ribs.

Low back pain, somatic dysfunction, and segmental bone mineral density T-score variation in the lumbar spine.

Context: Identifying objective measures that correlate with somatic dysfunction palpatory findings will aid in establishing clinical relevance of the findings and provide outcome measures for future studies.

Objective: To investigate the association of altered segmental lumbar vertebral mechanics (ie, somatic dysfunction) as assessed by palpation with bone mineral density (BMD) T-score variability in participants, some with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and others without low back pain (LBP).

Methods: Individuals with CLBP and individuals without LBP were examined by 2 blinded examiners for the presence or absence of paraspinal tissue texture abnormalities, vertebral rotational asymmetry, anterior motion restriction, and tenderness from L1 to L4.

Maintenance and improvement of interobserver reliability of osteopathic palpatory tests over a 4-month period.

Context: Few studies have shown that diagnostic palpation is reliable. No studies have shown that the reliability of diagnostic palpatory skills can be maintained and improved over time.

Objective: To investigate whether the reliability of selected palpatory tests used to identify lumbar somatic dysfunction was maintained during a 4-month period as part of a clinical observational study.

Efficacy of osteopathic manipulation as an adjunctive treatment for hospitalized patients with pneumonia: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The Multicenter Osteopathic Pneumonia Study in the Elderly (MOPSE) is a registered, double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial designed to assess the efficacy of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) as an adjunctive treatment in elderly patients with pneumonia.

Methods: 406 subjects aged >/= 50 years hospitalized with pneumonia at 7 community hospitals were randomized using concealed allocation to conventional care only (CCO), light-touch treatment (LT), or OMT groups. All subjects received conventional treatment for pneumonia.