Overcoming placebo-related challenges in manual therapy trials: The ‘whats and hows’ and the ‘touch equality assumption’ proposals

Due to the significant increase in interest in placebos, biomedical scientists have incorporated placebo innovations into a modern methodological research scenario in order to increase the quality of clinical studies. Indeed, the randomised-controlled trial design has changed dramatically, and these changes have had an impact on manual therapy research as well. The present paper outlines the main difficulties that placebo-controlled trials pose for research in manual therapy, for example, designing ineffective sham protocols, the role of touch in triggering neurobiological responses, or the unique specificity of manual therapies.
Source: International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Source Type: research