CONTEXT: Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a promising adjunctive treatment for older adults hospitalized for pneumonia. OBJECTIVE: To report subgroup analyses from the Multicenter Osteopathic Pneumonia Study in the Elderly (MOPSE) relating to hospital length of stay (LOS), ventilator-dependent respiratory failure rate, and in-hospital mortality rate. DESIGN: Multicenter randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Seven community hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred eighty-seven patients aged 50 years or older who met specific criteria for pneumonia on hospital admission. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups that received an adjunctive OMT protocol (n = 130), a light touch (LT) protocol (n = 124), or conventional care only (CCO) (n = 133). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes for subgroup analyses were LOS, ventilator-dependent respiratory failure rate, and in-hospital mortality rate. Subgroups were age (50 to 74 years or >= 75 years), Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) class (I to II, III, IV, or V), and type of pneumonia (community-acquired or nursing-home acquired). Data were analyzed by intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses using stratified Cox proportional hazards models and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests for general association. RESULTS: By per-protocol analysis of the younger age subgroup, LOS was shorter for the OMT group (median 2.9 days; n = 43) than the LT (median 3.7 days; n = 45) and CCO (median 4.0 days; n = 65) groups (p = 0.006). By intention-to-treat analysis of the older age subgroup, in-hospital mortality rates were lower for the OMT (1 of 66 (2%)) and LT (2 of 68 (3%)) groups than the CCO group (9 of 67 (13%)) (p = 0.005). By per-protocol analysis of the PSI class IV subgroup, the OMT group had a shorter LOS than the CCO group (median 3.8 days (n = 40) versus 5.0 days (n = 50); p = 0.01) and a lower ventilator-dependent respiratory failure rate than the CCO group (0 of 40 (0%) versus 5 of 50 (10%); p = 0.05). By intention-to-treat analysis, in-hospital mortality rates in the PSI class V subgroup were lower (p = 0.05) for the OMT group (1 of 22 (5%)) than the CCO group (6 of 19 (32%)) but not the LT group (2 of 15 (13%)). CONCLUSION: Subgroup analyses suggested adjunctive OMT for pneumonia reduced LOS in adults aged 50 to 74 years and lowered in-hospital mortality rates in adults aged 75 years or older. Adjunctive OMT may also reduce LOS and in-hospital mortality rates in older adults with more severe pneumonia. Interestingly, LT also reduced in-hospital mortality rates in adults aged 75 years or older relative to CCO. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00258661).
Reprinted from JAOA, The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Copyright American Osteopathic Association. Permission given with the consent of the American Osteopathic Association.

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