SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
Manual Therapy Effect in Placebo-Controlled Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07670819 (Effect of the Suboccipital Inhibition Technique on Balance Changes), which is not on this map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
Effect of the Suboccipital Inhibition Technique on Balance Changes
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Application of variance ratios to assess heterogeneity of spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low back pain: A meta-epidemiological study.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Manual Therapy on Parkinson's Gait: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness and safety of manual therapy for knee osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of Tuina therapy versus manual physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Technologies to investigate the mechanisms of force-based manipulations: a narrative methods review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes: A Systematic Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Evaluating Manual Therapy in Musculoskeletal Pain: Why Certain Trial Designs May Overestimate Effectiveness-A Scoping Review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Sham treatment? Should it be redefined for its use in manual therapy clinical studies?The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2025Article
- A critical review of the role of manual therapy in the treatment of individuals with low back pain.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2024Review
- Associations of Treatment Outcome Expectations and Pain Sensitivity after Cervical Spine Manipulation in Patients with Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain: A Cohort Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- CPM-Related Mechanisms Could Play a Key Role in the Effects on Pain Sensitivity Induced by Manual Therapy: Three Crossover Trials Investigating the Effects of Manual Pressure.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Waste not, want not: call to action for spinal manipulative therapy researchers.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2024Article
- Efficacy and safety of the orthopaedic manipulation techniques of the Lin School of Lingnan Region in the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: protocol of a participant-and-assessor-blinded randomized controlled study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Cervical Rotation-Traction Manipulation for Cervical Radiculopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Control Trials.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Manual Therapy in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Reply to Rossettini et al. "Do Not Mix Apples with Oranges" to Avoid Misinterpretation of Placebo Effects in Manual Therapy: The Risk Is Resulting in a Fruit Basket. Comment on "Molina-Álvarez et al. Manual Therapy Effect in Placebo-Controlled Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- "Do Not Mix Apples with Oranges" to Avoid Misinterpretation of Placebo Effects in Manual Therapy: The Risk Is Resulting in a Fruit Basket. Comment on Molina-Àlvarez et al. Manual Therapy Effect in Placebo-Controlled Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Editorial to the Special Issue "The Effect of Exercise Intensity and Psychological Intervention on Musculoskeletal Disorders".International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeBackground: Evaluate whether the design of placebo control groups could produce different interpretations of the efficacy of manual therapy techniques.
methodsNine databases were searched (EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, SCOPUS, WEB of SCIENCE, COCHRANE, and PEDro). Randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials that used manual therapy as a sham treatment on subjects suffering from pain were included. Data were summarized qualitatively, and meta-analyses were conducted with R.
results53 articles were included in the qualitative analysis and 48 were included in the quantitative analyses. Manipulation techniques did not show higher effectiveness when compared with all types of sham groups that were analyzed (SMD 0.28; 95%CI [-0.24; 0.80]) (SMD 0.28; 95%CI [-0.08; 0.64]) (SMD 0.42; 95%CI [0.16; 0.67]) (SMD 0.82; 95%CI [-0.57; 2.21]), raising doubts on their therapeutic effect. Factors such as expectations of treatment were not consistently evaluated, and analysis could help clarify the effect of different sham groups. As for soft tissue techniques, the results are stronger in favor of these techniques when compared to sham control groups (SMD 0.40; 95%CI [0.19, 0.61]). Regarding mobilization techniques and neural gliding techniques, not enough studies were found for conclusions to be made.
conclusionsThe literature presents a lack of a unified placebo control group design for each technique and an absence of assessment of expectations. These two issues might account for the unclear results obtained in the analysis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.