OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of thrust manipulation (TM) and non-TM (NTM) on a sample of older subjects with low back pain. METHODS: This is a secondary data analysis of a randomized control trial. Forty-nine subjects aged 55 to 88 years participated in the trial, who received either a TM or NTM on at least 2 occasions during the course of care, and were extracted from the larger data set. The treatment program included a standardized home exercise program for the first 2 sessions, which could be modified by the therapist after those 2 sessions. Numeric pain rating scale and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were the outcomes for this study. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed no significant between-group differences for treatment group (p = 0.99) without group x time interaction (p = 0.90). Significant within-group changes were observed for both groups for ODI and numeric pain rating scale (p < 0.001); the average self-report of recovery was 78.0% (SD 19.8%). Age stratification of the older subset revealed between-group differences in ODI change scores for the oldest subjects (> 70 years) compared with 60 to 69 years (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that outcomes for both TM and NTM improved in older adults with low back pain.
Reprinted from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics with copyright permission from the National University of Health Sciences.

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