RECENT RESEARCH
Objectives : Plantar heel pain ( PHP ) is the most common cause of heel pain and can be debilitating ; 20 % of patients are refractory to standard of care . The Fascial Distortion Model ( FDM ), a novel manual diagnostic and treatment strategy , is purported to be effective for chronic pain ; however , no rigorous studies document its effectiveness . We assessed the FDM for care of PHP .
Design : Single arm prospective effectiveness study .
Settings / Location : Outpatient primary care clinic ; Fort Gordon , GA .
Subjects : Outpatient adults .
Interventions : Participants received an FDM-informed diagnostic and treatment strategy to identify fascial “ distortions ” at the foot based on patient-reported pain patterns and palpatory examination and then to provide distortion-specific manual therapy at baseline and 1 week .
Outcome Measures : Primary outcome measure ( 0 , 1 , and 16 weeks ): the Foot Pain subscale on the validated Foot Health Status Questionnaire ( FHSQ ; 0 – 100 points on each of eight separate subscales ); secondary outcome measures ( 0 , 1 , and 16 weeks ): the seven remaining subscales on the FHSQ , visual analog pain scale ( VAS , 0 – 100 points ), and plantar fascia thickness of the most effected foot assessed by ultrasound ( 0 and 16 weeks ). Analysis was performed per protocol using repeatedmeasures analysis of variance .
Results : One hundred and ninety-seven participants were screened ; 33 were enrolled . Twenty-eight participants received two FDM procedures . Compared with baseline , improvement on the FHSQ Foot Pain ( 33.8 – 23.6 points ) and Foot Function ( 23.9 – 19.8 points ) subscales and VAS ( 44.7 – 27.7 points ) at 16 weeks was statistically significant ( all p ' s < 0.001 ) and clinically important representing large effect sizes . Relative to baseline , 16-week ultrasound demonstrated reduced average plantar fascia thickness ( 0.6 – 0.9 mm [ p = 0.001 ]). Demographic characteristics were unrelated to response . Satisfaction was high . There were no serious adverse events ; side effects included consistent mild-to-moderate self-limited pain .
Conclusions : Participants with PHP who received FDM-informed care reported significant and sustained improvement on validated foot pain and foot function measures ; additional findings included decreased plantar fascial thickness . These results require corroboration in a larger randomized controlled study . Clinical Trial Registration No : DDEAMC17005 .
Morin , C ., Gaboury , I .
Osteopathic empirical research : a bibliometric analysis from 1966 to 2018 . BMC Complement Med Ther . 2021 ; 21 ( 196 ). https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s12906-021-03366-3
Background : Despite the increasing use of osteopathy , a manipulative complementary and alternative medicine therapy , in the general population , its efficacy continues to be debated . In this era of evidence-based practice , no studies have previously reviewed the scientific literature in the field to identify published knowledge , trends and gaps in empirical research . The aims of this bibliometric analysis are to describe characteristics of articles published on the efficacy of osteopathic interventions and to provide an overall portrait of their impacts in the scientific literature .
Methods : A bibliometric analysis approach was used . Articles were identified with searches using a combination of relevant MeSH terms and indexing keywords about osteopathy and research designs in MEDLINE and CINAHL databases . The following indicators were extracted : country of primary author , year of publication , journals , impact factor of the journal , number of citations , research design , participants ’ age group , system / body part addressed , primary outcome , indexing keywords and types of techniques .
Results : A total of 389 articles met the inclusion criteria . The number of empirical studies doubled every 5 years , with the United States , Italy , Spain , and United Kingdom being the most productive countries . Twenty-three articles were cited over 100 times . Articles were published in 103 different indexed journals , but more than half ( 53.7 %) of articles were published in one of three osteopathy-focused readership journals . Randomized control trials ( n = 145 ; 37.3 %) and case reports ( n = 142 ; 36.5 %) were the most common research designs . A total of 187 ( 48.1 %) studies examined the effects of osteopathic interventions using a combination of techniques that belonged to two or all of the classic fields of osteopathic interventions ( musculoskeletal , cranial , and visceral ).
Conclusion : The number of osteopathy empirical studies increased significantly from 1980 to 2014 . The productivity appears to be very much in sync with practice development and innovations ; however , the articles were mainly published in osteopathic journals targeting a limited , disciplinary-focused readership .
Lifestyle medicine
Lozano Montes L , Balakrishnan V , Gopalakrishnan S .
Effects of integrated Amrita Meditation Technique on anxiety , depression , and plasma neurotransmitters on a healthy population : A randomized controlled trial followed by a case – control study . Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine . 2021 ; 27 ( 8 ): 641 – 648 . https :// doi . org / 10.1089 / acm . 2020.0238
Objective : We aimed to study the short-term effects of Integrated Amrita Meditation ( IAM ) technique in anxiety and depression states and to have a better understanding on the underlying physiological changes related to shortterm and long-term IAM practice .
Design : Short-term IAM practitioners ( ST-IAM ) and long-term IAM practitioners ( LT-IAM ) were compared to control groups of the same age and naïve to yoga and meditation ( ST-control and LTcontrol , respectively ).
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