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                                          • Osteopathy: effectiveness and safety for musculoskeletal pain and overview of training and quality requirements

                                          Osteopathy: effectiveness and safety for musculoskeletal pain and overview of training and quality requirements

                                          Adobestock-248634451-von-vectormine2
                                          Research area: Rehabilitation and occupational therapy

                                          Project leaders: Lucia Gassner

                                          Project team: Lucia Gassner, Viktoria Hofer

                                          Duration: April 2022 – November 2022
                                          Language: English with German summary

                                          Publication: HTA Project Report No. 144: https://eprints.aihta.at/1416

                                          Background: Osteopathy is based on the concept that the body is an integrated whole. It is used to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases and injuries (e.g., inner organs, musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems) [1]. Osteopathy is a patient-centred primary health care discipline developed in the United States and brought to Europe in the early 1990s [2, 3]. Osteopathic treatment can be preventive, curative, palliative or adjuvant, and osteopathic, medical, and scientific knowledge is used for practice [3]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), osteopathy relies on manual contact for diagnosis and disease treatment [4]. It involves analysing and evaluating the structural and functional integrity of the body. The aim is to improve and support all aspects of health holistically [3].

                                          A common medical indication of osteopathy is pain in the musculoskeletal system, such as neck pain or rheumatism. Chronic pain, in particular, is considered one of the most prevalent and complex problems faced by health professionals. Pain can have a negative impact on the psychological and social well-being of those affected [5].

                                          The recognition and regulation of the practice of osteopathy vary widely from country to country [4]. In Austria, osteopathy is currently not a social insurance benefit, but the supply and demand are steadily increasing.

                                          Aim of the project and research questions (RQ): The project's objective is to provide decision support for the reimbursement of osteopathy. The project aims

                                          • to summarise the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of osteopathy in treating musculoskeletal pain (part 1) and
                                          • to provide an overview of the training and quality requirements and regulation of the osteopathic profession in Europe (part 2).

                                          The following research questions will be answered:

                                          • RQ1: How effective and safe is osteopathy compared to no therapy or alternative therapy (e.g., sham therapy, physiotherapy, massage) in treating musculoskeletal pain in adults?
                                          • RQ2: What are the current training and quality requirements for osteopaths in Europe? Who is allowed to offer osteopathy, and what qualifications do osteopaths need?

                                          Methods: The following methods are used to answer the two research questions:

                                          RQ1: Results on the evidence of efficacy and safety of osteopathy for pain of the musculoskeletal system

                                          • For the localisation of 'low back pain': presentation and description of the systematic review and meta-analysis by Dal Farra et al. 2021 [6]
                                          • For all other localisations: systematic search for RCTs (e.g. in Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PEDro)
                                          • Quality assessment of RCTs using the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias (RoB) Tool
                                          • Clustering of evidence according to a) localisation of pain, b) acute vs chronic and data extraction
                                          • Synthesis

                                          Inclusion criteria for RQ1:

                                          Description

                                          Project scope

                                          Population

                                          Adults (male, female; over 18 years) with musculoskeletal pain in various locations

                                          Inclusion: e.g., musculoskeletal pain (neck/cervical pain, shoulder/pelvic pain etc.), rheumatic conditions of the musculoskeletal system (ankylosing spondylitis, fibromyalgia etc.), postoperative pain, chronic/persistent pain

                                          Exclusion: neurological pain (e.g., migraine)

                                          Intervention

                                          Osteopathy – alone or in addition to other interventions

                                          Inclusion: craniosacral therapy, osteopathic manipulative treatment/medicine, cranial osteopathy, myofascial release, osteopathic visceral manipulation

                                          Exclusion: manual therapy, chiropractic, spinal manipulative therapy / spinal manipulation[1], electrotherapy treatment[2]

                                          Control

                                          Standard of care and no osteopathy (e.g., waiting list, no care, sham treatment, massage, physiotherapy, conservative therapy, other non-surgical treatment, pharmacological treatment)

                                          Exclusion: surgical treatment

                                          Outcomes

                                          Effectiveness:

                                          • Pain relief
                                          • Symptom improvement or recovery
                                          • Functional status
                                          • Quality of life
                                          • Accompanying symptoms of pain (e.g., dizziness, visual disturbances, tinnitus, numbness, tingling, paralysis)
                                          • Return to work / absence from work

                                          Safety:

                                          • Adverse events
                                          • Side effects

                                          Study design

                                          Publication period

                                          Languages

                                          RCTs

                                          until May 2022

                                          English, German

                                          RQ2: Overview of current training and quality requirements for osteopaths in Europe

                                          • Targeted hand search for training and quality requirements for osteopaths in selected countries (e.g. in PubMed, Google Scholar, TRIP Database, osteopathic institutions)
                                          • If applicable, contact experts to further identify and complete the country's information
                                          • Tabular presentation, synthesis and description of the identified training and quality requirements at a country level within Europe

                                          Inclusion criteria for RQ2:

                                          Description

                                          Project scope

                                          Interest

                                          Regulation of the osteopathic profession in Europe

                                          Countries

                                          Selected European countries (e.g., Germany, Switzerland)

                                          Categories of interest

                                          Regulation: e.g., osteopathy located in primary health care, protected title ‚osteopath', existing national associations of osteopathy, available official documents related to regulation

                                          Education: e.g., education level required to practise, type of education offered

                                          Practice of osteopathy: e.g., reimbursement, private practice, restrictions to practise

                                          Study design

                                          Language

                                          Any kind of publication (e.g., evaluation reports, curricula, educational/study programmes)

                                          English, German

                                          The workflow is organised according to the principle of dual control (LG, VH), and the results are subject to an internal and external review.

                                          Schedule and milestones:

                                          Time period

                                          Task

                                          April 2022

                                          Scoping, finalising the project protocol

                                          May 2022

                                          Writing the background chapter, systematic search in several databases, targeted hand search RQ2, contacting experts on RQ2 if applicable, selection of literature for RQ1 + RQ2

                                          June 2022

                                          RoB assessment and control, data extraction RQ1 + RQ2 and control

                                          July/August 2022

                                          Writing the methods chapter, writing results on RQ1 + RQ2

                                          September 2022

                                          Writing the discussion of the overall report, internal review

                                          October 2022

                                          Writing the summary, external review

                                          November 2022

                                          Publication

                                          References:

                                          [1]     Osteopathic International Alliance. Global review of osteopathic medicine and osteopathy. 2020 [cited 26.04.2022]. Available from: https://oialliance.org/the-oia-global-report-global-review-of-osteopathic-medicine-and-osteopathy-2020/.

                                          [2]     J. Ellwood and D. Carnes. An international profile of the practice of osteopaths: A systematic review of surveys. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. 2021;40:14-21.

                                          [3]     European Federation and Forum for Osteopathy. Regulation of the Osteopathic Profession in Europe. An Overview. 2021 [cited 26.04.22]. Available from: https://www.effo.eu/regulation-in-europe/.

                                          [4]     World Health Organization. Benchmarks for training in traditional / complementary and alternative medicine. World Health Organization. 2010 [cited 27.04.2022]. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44356.

                                          [5]     M. Saracutu, J. Rance, H. Davies and D. J. Edwards. The effects of osteopathic treatment on psychosocial factors in people with persistent pain: a systematic review. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. 2018;27:23-33.

                                          [6]     F. Dal Farra, R. G. Risio, L. Vismara and A. Bergna. Effectiveness of osteopathic interventions in chronic non-specific low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2021;56:102616.


                                          [1] Most spinal manipulations are done by chiropractors.

                                          [2] Electrotherapy treatment involves the application of a therapeutic electrical current to the area of injury, inflammation, dysfunction, or pain.

                                           

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