Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this pilot study is to compare the efficacy and effectiveness of Systemic Manual Therapy (SMT) used in a pragmatic vs. standardized treatment strings across episode of care when treating patients with Central Sensitization (CS).
Design: Computerized Decision Support Software (CDSS) retrospective analysis of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) using the Halili Physical Therapy Statistical Analysis Tool (HPTSAT) to query EMR.
Methods: This study used the Halili Physical Therapy Statistical Analysis Tool (HPTSAT) to isolate two groups of sensitized patients, both treated with SMT but one using a pragmatic (XXXX) approach and the other a standardized one (BNUN). Paired and non-paired t tests were used to assess the differences in the reported Patient Identified Problem scale (PIP) across episode of care and between groups.
Results: The patients in both groups reported a statistically significant (p < 0.001) improvement across episode of care. The improvement in both groups (13.44 for the BNUN and 13.39 for the XXXX) was 3.5 times the MCID for the scale and above its 95% CI upper limit. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of change between groups (p = 0.98).
Discussion and conclusions: This analysis demonstrated the efficacy of a standardized approach across an episode of care. These findings could become useful when treating patients with high complexity as well as a treatment arm in future RCT.
Keywords
Central sensitization, Systemic manual therapy, Temporal model for central sensitization