How Does Manual Therapy Improve Low Back Pain for Soldiers?

Summary

Musculoskeletal injuries including low back pain (LBP) are a major problem in military personnel. These injuries can result from training exercises, job duties, or recreational activities. However incurred, many of these injuries can result in limited duty in work or training, and can decrease military readiness.

The National Osteopathic Research Center (ORC) will examine the effectiveness of a specific set of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment interventions referred to as Manual/Manipulative Therapy (M/MT) to reduce pain and improve functioning in young active duty military personnel.

The broad overall goal of this proposed research project is to determine the feasibility of conducting a larger clinical trial of Manual/Manipulative Therapy (M/MT) in restoring full performance in military personnel in the operational environment. A second goal is to estimate the treatment effect size of M/MT in this population.

The following two hypotheses will guide the data study:

* Hypothesis 1: Subjects receiving manual/manipulative therapy for low back pain will report less pain at two and four weeks than subjects in the control group.
* Hypothesis 2: Subjects receiving manual/manipulative therapy for low back pain will achieve greater functioning at two and four weeks than subjects in the control group.

Conditions

• Low Back Pain

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Soft Tissue

PROCEDURE

Myofascial release

PROCEDURE

Counterstrain

PROCEDURE

Muscle energy

PROCEDURE

Sacro-iliac articulation

PROCEDURE

High-velocity, low amplitude

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Samueli Institute for Information Biology

  collaborator OTHER

• Madigan Army Medical Center

  collaborator FED

• University of North Texas Health Science Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Scott T Stoll, D.O., Ph.D. · Osteopathic Research Center University of North Texas Health Science Center

• Douglas M Maurer, D.O. · U.S. Army-Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

17 Years

Max Age

35 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2006-10-31

Completion

2007-10-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations