Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29449764›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of manual & manipulative therapy2017

The effect of manual therapy and neuroplasticity education on chronic low back pain: a randomized clinical trial.

Adriaan Louw, Kevin Farrell, Merrill Landers, Martin Barclay, Elise Goodman, Jordan Gillund, Sara McCaffrey, Laura Timmerman

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03758807 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2018, after this paper: background citation

A Follow-up Comparison of Active Versus Passive Manual Therapy in Patients With Low Back Pain: a Randomized Control Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorSt. Ambrose UniversityRan2018 to 2018Enrolled102ConditionsLow Back Pain, Manual Therapy, EducationArmsManual Therapy with Traditional Biomechanical Explanation, Manual Therapy with Neuroplastiicity Explanation
NCT07285824 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Virtual McKenzie Exercises and Centralization of Pain: A Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorEvidence In MotionRan2025 to 2026Enrolled40ConditionsChronic Pain, Low Back PainArmsMotor Imagery-Based Lumbar Extension
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Adriaan LouwInternational Spine and Pain Institute, Story City, IA, USA.
Kevin FarrellDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.
Merrill LandersDepartment of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Martin BarclayDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.
Elise GoodmanDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.
Jordan GillundDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.
Sara McCaffreyDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8956-814X
Laura TimmermanDepartment of Physical Therapy Education, Residency Program, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, IA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8162-500X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine if a neuroplasticity educational explanation for a manual therapy technique will produce a different outcome compared to a traditional mechanical explanation.

methodsSixty-two patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) were recruited for the study. Following consent, demographic data were obtained as well as pain ratings for low back pain (LBP) and leg pain (Numeric Pain Rating Scale), disability (Oswestry Disability Index), fear-avoidance (Fear-Avoidance-Beliefs Questionnaire), forward flexion (fingertips-to-floor), and straight leg raise (SLR) (inclinometer). Patients were then randomly allocated to receive one of two explanations (neuroplasticity or mechanical), a manual therapy technique to their lumbar spine, followed by post-intervention measurements of LBP, leg pain, forward flexion, and SLR.

resultsSixty-two patients (female 35 [56.5%]), with a mean age of 60.1 years and mean duration of 9.26 years of CLBP participated in the study. There were no statistically significant interactions for LBP ( DISCUSSION: The results of this study show that a neuroplasticity explanation, compared to a traditional biomechanical explanation, resulted in a measureable difference in SLR in patients with CLBP when receiving manual therapy. Future studies need to explore if the increase in SLR correlated to changes in cortical maps of the low back.

Indexed as

braineducationmanual therapyPainplasticityremappingstraight leg raise

Identifiers

PMID29449764
PMCPMC5810776

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.