Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39885436›Full record

Trial reportBMC pediatrics2025

Osteopathic treatment of infants with infantile colic/excessive crying: a prospective, multicentric, randomized controlled trial and nested observational trial.

Florian Schwerla, Marlen Zimmer, Janine Göpfert, Petra Laux, Simone Langenmair, Michaela Rütz, Karl-Ludwig Resch

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Florian SchwerlaGerman Academy of Osteopathy, Research Commission, Roemerschanzweg 5, Gauting, 82131, Germany. f.schwerla@german-afo.de.
Marlen ZimmerOsteopathic Practice, Berlin, Germany.
Janine GöpfertOsteopathic Practice, Berlin, Germany.
Petra LauxOsteopathic Practice, Landau, Germany.
Simone LangenmairOsteopathic Practice, Ottersheim, Germany.
Michaela RützGerman Academy of Osteopathy, Research Commission, Roemerschanzweg 5, Gauting, 82131, Germany.
Karl-Ludwig ReschGerman Institute for Health Research (DIG), Lauf, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundColic in infants is defined as excessive crying in an otherwise healthy and thriving baby. Colic is a common but poorly understood and often frustrating problem for caregivers.

objectiveTo study whether osteopathic treatments of infants with infantile colic / excessive crying (IC/EC) have an impact on the subjectively perceived psychological stress of caregivers compared to usual care.

methodsThe study was designed as a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial. Infants aged 1 week to 3 months and who met Rome IV criteria for IC/EC were included. By means of external randomization, infants were allocated to an intervention group or a control group. Infants in the intervention group received three osteopathic treatments at intervals of one weeks. The treatments were custom-tailored and based on osteopathic principles. Controls received their osteopathic treatment after a 3 week untreated period. The primary outcome parameter was the assessment of parental psychological stress (three questions), measured using a numeric rating scale (NRS; 0-10). Furthermore, the average daily crying time (measured using the Likert scale), the crying intensity (measured using the NRS) and the parents' self-confidence (measured using the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale) were assessed.

resultsA total of 103 infants (average age 39.4 ±19.2 days) were included, 52 in the intervention group and 51 in the control group. An inter-group comparison of changes revealed clinically relevant improvements in favor of the intervention group for the main outcome - parameter psychological stress - for all 3 questions (e.g., for question 2 respectively 3, NRS: between group difference of means 3.5; 95% CI: 2.6 to 4.4; p < 0.001). For the secondary outcome parameters of crying intensity and crying time/day, the changes were of similar magnitude.

conclusionThree osteopathic treatments given over a period of two weeks led to statistically significant and clinically relevant positive changes of parental psychological stress.

trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00025867, registration date 10.08.21.

Indexed as

ColicCryingManipulation, OsteopathicParentsStress, PsychologicalCaregiversFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeExcessive cryingInfantile colicInfantsOMTOsteopathic medicine

Identifiers

PMID39885436
PMCPMC11783941

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Registered trials

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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.