Trial reportBrain and behavior2020
A twelve-week, four-arm, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 prospective clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of an anthroposophic multimodal treatment on chronic pain in outpatients with postpolio syndrome.
Trial report in Brain and behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04387864 (The Effect of Adding Whole-Body Vibration Exercises to Home Exercise Program on Muscle Strength in Patients With Postpolio Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
The Effect of Adding Whole-Body Vibration Exercises to Home Exercise Program on Muscle Strength in Patients With Postpolio Syndrome
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effects of Anthroposophic Medicine in Chronic Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Exploring Physician and Patient Perspectives on Expectations and Role Models Towards Chronic Pain Treatment in General Practice: A Qualitative Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Management of Pain in Patients with Postpolio Syndrome.Pain research & management · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionChronic pain and fatigue are the main symptoms of postpoliomyelitis syndrome (PPS). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of an anthroposophic multimodal treatment for chronic pain in PPS outpatients.
methodsA twelve-week, four-arm, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 prospective clinical trial was designed to compare four groups (n = 48): groups A and B received daily active experimental transdermal gel (ETG) or placebo gel (PTG), respectively; groups C and D received weekly external therapies, art therapies, and neurofunctional reorganization, plus either daily ETG or PTG, respectively. The pain symptoms were evaluated through a visual analogue scale (VAS), the McGill questionnaire, and thermography. Quality of life and resilience were evaluated by the WHOQOL-BREF and Antonovsky sense of coherence questionnaires applied at baseline and after the interventions.
resultsNo related adverse events occurred, and 10% of the patients reports dysphagia improvement. In the groups C and D, pain reduction was statistically significant in both the placebo group (p = .02, d = 1.315) and in the ETG (p = .005, d = 2.035). However, following the week-to-week evolution of pain with the concomitant use of the ETG, this significant pain reduction occurred earlier from the 4th week and continued to decrease (p = .016, d = 1.369). In the group that received the complete multimodal treatment, the greatest significant benefit in increasing quality of life occurred in the physical domain and elevation in resilience with an emphasis on meaning and comprehension domains.
conclusionsThe anthroposophic multimodal treatment group presented both safety and efficacy as an analgesic in the groups that received the nonpharmacological therapies, much earlier when associated with the ETG. The multimodal approach corresponded to the pattern of better efficacy for both pain reduction and improvement in quality of life and resilience.
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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.