The relationship between methodological quality and conclusions in reviews of spinal manipulation

Article Abstract:

The quality of many review articles in the medical literature may be low. Researchers evaluated the quality and conclusions of 51 review articles on the effectiveness of spinal manipulation for low-back pain. They scored the reviews on 14 measures of quality including whether the review evaluated randomized clinical trials only and whether the authors used statistical pooling. Thirty-four reviews concluded that spinal manipulation was effective and 17 were neutral or inconclusive. However, the overall quality of the reviews was poor, with a median score of 23 out of 100. Only three reviews scored higher than 50. In 40% of the reviews, a practitioner of spinal manipulation was one of the authors. Twenty-two percent of the reviews included non-randomized clinical trials. Many of the reviewers had not retrieved all of the pertinent studies on spinal manipulation.

Quality management, Medical publishing, Manipulation (Therapeutics), Orthopedic manipulation, Spinal adjustment

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Lumbar supports for prevention of low back pain in the workplace

Article Abstract:

More rigorous research is needed to determine whether back supports will reduce the risk of low back pain. These supports are made of soft materials often reinforced by plastic or metal and are worn around the abdomen and back. Several randomized controlled trials have shown no benefit from these supports but fewer than half the people studied wore the support on a regular basis. The trials had other design flaws that may invalidate the results. Better trials are needed because low back pain affects 15% to 20% of the US population each year and results in billions of dollars in health care costs.

Editorial

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Lumbar supports and education for the prevention of low back pain in industry: a randomized controlled trial

Article Abstract:

Lumbar supports and advice on proper lifting and other techniques do not appear to reduce the risk of low back pain among manual laborers. Researchers randomly assigned 282 members of the cargo department of an airline to one of four groups: education and lumbar support, education only, lumbar support only or neither. Six months later, the incidence of low back pain was no different in the groups nor did the amount of sick leave taken differ. Those who already had low back pain and received lumbar supports had fewer days with back pain.

Education, Blue collar workers

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