RECENT RESEARCH
Massage , myotherapy and other bodywork
Rapaport MH , Schettler PJ , Larson ER , Dunlop BW , Rakofsky JJ , Kinkead B .
Six versus twelve weeks of Swedish massage therapy for generalized anxiety disorder : Preliminary findings . Complementary Therapies in Medicine , 2021 ; 56
Acute treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder often requires 3 months or more of care in order to optimize response . As part of an exploratory grant we have previously demonstrated that six weeks of twice-weekly Swedish Massage Therapy ( SMT ) was more effective than an active control in decreasing Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale Scores ( HAM-A ). An additional goal of this project was to determine if an additional six weeks of twice-weekly SMT led to greater clinical and statistical benefit . We found that HAM-A scores did continue to decrease with an additional six weeks of therapy but that the greatest benefit occurred during the first versus the second 12 sessions ( −9.91 vs . −3.09 , t = 2.21 ; df = 10 ; p = 0.052 ). These preliminary findings suggest that the majority of benefit in symptom reduction occurs in the first six weeks and that six weeks of twice-weekly SMT may be sufficient for the majority of patients .
Abou L , Alluri A , Fliflet A , Du Y , Rice LA .
Effectiveness of Physical Therapy Interventions in Reducing Fear of Falling Among Individuals With Neurologic Diseases : A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis . Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , 2021 ; 102 ( 1 ): 132-154
Objective : To summarize the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions to reduce fear of falling ( FOF ) among individuals living with neurologic diseases .
Data Sources : PubMed , Physiotherapy Evidence Database , Scopus , Web of Science , PsycINFO , Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health , and SportDiscuss were searched from inception until December 2019 .
Study Selection : Clinical trials with either the primary or secondary aim to reduce FOF among adults with neurologic diseases were selected .
Data Extraction : Potential articles were screened for eligibility , and data were extracted by 2 independent researchers . Risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized controlled trials and the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tool for pre-post studies . A meta-analysis was performed among trials presenting with similar clinical characteristics . The Grading of Recommendations , Assessment , Development , and Evaluation ( GRADE ) was used to rate the overall quality of evidence .
Results : Sixty-one trials with 3954 participants were included in the review and 53 trials with 3524 participants in the meta-analysis . The included studies presented , in general , with a low to high risk of bias . A combination of gait and balance training was significantly more effective compared with gait training alone in reducing FOF among individuals with Parkinson disease ( PD ) ( mean difference [ MD ]= 11.80 ; 95 % CI , 8.22- 15.38 ; P <. 001 ). Home-based exercise and leisure exercise demonstrated significant improvement in reducing FOF over usual care in multiple sclerosis ( MS ) ( MD = 15.27 ; 95 % CI , 6.15-24.38 ; P =. 001 ). No statistically significant betweengroups differences were reported among individuals with stroke and spinal cord injury . The overall quality of evidence presented in this review ranges from very low to moderate according to the assessment with the GRADE approach .
Conclusions : Gait with lower limb training combined with balance training is effective in reducing FOF in individuals with PD . Also , home-based or leisure exercise is effective among individuals with MS . However , because of several limitations of the included studies , further research is needed to examine the effectiveness of FOF intervention among individuals with neurologic diseases .
Yao C , Cheng Y , Zhu Q , Lv Z , Kong L , Fang M .
Clinical evidence for the effects of manual therapy on cancer pain : A systematic review and meta-analysis . Evid Based Complement Alternat Med , 2021 ; 2021 : 6678184
Objective : This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of manual therapy ( MT ) on cancer pain , so as to provide clinical evidence for application .
Methods : Five English and Chinese databases were searched until February 29 , 2020 , for randomized controlled trials ( RCTs ) of MT for cancer pain . Articles published in the English or Chinese language were included . Two authors independently reviewed all articles and extracted the data , and any disagreements in the above process were discussed with other reviewers until the authors reached consensus . Review Manager 5.3 was used to calculate the effect size and 95 % confidence intervals . This review was registered in PROSPERO , number CRD42020172053 .
Results : The intensity of cancer pain is our primary outcome measure , and compared with standard care , MT can significantly relieve the pain of patients with cancer ( SMD , 0.63 ; 95 % CI [ 0.18 , 1.08 ]; P = 0.006 < 0.01 ); the effects of MT plus active activity were significantly different from AT alone ( SMD , 0.79 ; 95 % CI [ 0.28 , 1.30 ]; P = 0.002 < 0.01 ); there was no statistical difference in the efficacy of MT and AT alone ( SMD , -0.24 ; 95 % CI [ -1.09 , 0.62 ]; P = 0.53 > 0.05 ). In other related symptoms , the above evidence cannot support that MT had a good effect on fatigue ( SMD , 0.77 ; 95 % CI [ -0.09 , 1.63 ]; P = 0.08 > 0.05 ), nausea ( SMD , 0.24 ; 95 % CI [ -0.00 , 0.48 ]; P = 0.05 ), anxiety ( SMD , 0.76 ; 95 % CI [ -0.32 , 1.84 ]; P = 0.17 > 0.05 ), and depression ( SMD , 0.67 ; 95 % CI [ -0.28 , 1.62 ]; P = 0.17 > 0.05 ); however , MT intervention can improve physical function ( n = 271 ; SMD , 0.35 ; 95 % CI [ -0.04 , 0.74 ]; P = 0.04 < 0.05 ) and global well-being ( SMD , 0.50 ; 95 % CI [ 0.02 , 0.98 ]; P = 0.04 < 0.05 ). In addition , MT had a significant effect on pain relief ( SMD , 0.52 ; 95 % CI [ 0.03 , 1.01 ]; P = 0.04 < 0.05 ) and improvement of physical function
JATMS | Summer 2021 | 227