Gerard Alvarez

• PhD MSc PT Eur Ost DO
• Researcher at Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre

Objectives This study provides further data from a review assessing methodological characteristics of pragmatic randomised controlled trials (pRCTs) published in manual therapy (MT). In this second part, we aim to assess the report, the risk of bias (RoB), and the relationship between these items and the pragmatism scores of the self-labelled pRCTs...

Background Pragmatic randomized controlled trials are getting more interest to improve trials’ external validity. This study aimed to assess how pragmatic the design of the self-labelled pragmatic randomised controlled trials in the manual therapy field is. Methods We searched MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for self...

El objetivo del presente artículo es realizar una aproximación a la situación de la osteopatía pediátrica en España y proponer la creación de una mesa de diálogo inter y multidisciplinar que permita avanzar en su regulación y ordenación profesional. Actualmente no existe un estándar académico que regule este tipo de formación en nuestro país. La au...

28 Oct 2024): Assessment of chronic overlapping pain comorbidities for the management of temporomandibular disorders: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, ABSTRACT Background: Chronic painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a functional pain syndrome that embodies a spectrum of clinical manifes...

Background: Previous studies have evaluated the implementation of behavioral approaches in individuals with chronic temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Objective: To evaluate the benefits of a behavioral approach to craniofacial pain. Second, we assessed the benefits of kinesiophobia, catastrophizing, mouth opening without pain, and forward head po...

Background Pragmatic randomized controlled trials are getting more interest to improve trials external validity. This study aimed to assess how pragmatic the design of the self-labelled pragmatic randomised controlled trials in the manual therapy field is. Methods We searched MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for self-...

Letter to the editor of the Journal of osteopathic medicine in response to Rehman et al. specifying some aspects of their conclusion about the impact of osteopathic manipulative techniques on the management of dizziness caused by neuro-otologic disorders.

Background The impact of manual therapy interventions on the autonomic nervous system have been largely assessed, but with heterogeneous findings regarding the direction of these effects. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews to describe if there is a specific autonomic effect elicited by manual therapy interventions, its relation with the...

We read with great interest the recently published study by Coste et al. The authors reported no benefit of osteopathic treatment in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and, therefore, concluded that its use was not recommended.1 We argue that their findings were expected given their lack of rationale for evaluating the benefits of a single...

Background: The number of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for manual therapy (MT) has increased exponentially in recent years but the quality of reporting is heterogeneous. Objective: To assess the quality of the reporting of results in RCTs manual therapy, both in the text and in the graphs. Study design: Methodological review. Methods: We re...

Osteopathy became recently regulated as a healthcare profession in Italy. The Italian legislation classifies osteopathy as a healthcare profession, which focuses on health prevention and maintenance with a role in rehabilitation and functional psychosocial recovery. The legislative framework also lays down the osteopathic professional profile. Oste...

Background Although evidence-based practice (EBP) is largely supported across healthcare professions, its implementation in manual therapy professions such as osteopathy remains limited and debated. There is currently little knowledge of how Spanish osteopaths relate to EBP. Objectives The main aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes, s...

The trusted role and professional standing that osteopaths have with their patients and within their wider communities requires that the information and messages they communicate are informed by and congruent with current evidence, public health guidance and scientific consensus. This expectation is even more critical during the covid-19 pandemic,...

Objectives The aim of this study was to quantify and analyze the presence and type of self-acknowledged limitations (SALs) in a sample of manual therapy (MT) randomized controlled trials. Study Design and Setting We randomly selected 120 MT trials. We extracted data related to SALs from the original reports and classified them into 12 categories....

Background: Radial nerve (RN) compression most commonly occurs at the level of the supinator arch (SA), also called arcade of Fröhse, but other sites of entrapment along the course of the nerve are possible. This study aimed to perform an ultrasound and anatomical examination of these entrapment sites, to provide a solid anatomical base for the dif...

Background Despite the growth of the osteopathic profession in Spain in the last few years, reliable information regarding professional profile and prevalence is still lacking. The Osteopathic Practitioners Estimates and RAtes (OPERA) project was developed as a European-based survey dedicated to profiling the osteopathic profession across Europe. T...

After several publications calling for changes within our profession [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ], the recent editorial published by Esteves et al. "Theoretical models and frameworks for osteopathic care: a critical vision and call for updates and research" [ 5 ] represents a reflection worth considering for the entire osteopathic community. Osteopathy only c...

Background Healthcare providers' attitudes and beliefs might influence patients’ attitudes and beliefs as well as their management approach. It was hypothesised that osteopaths have a more biopsychosocial mindset towards chronic low back pain (CLBP) because of their holistic reasoning. Objective The primary aim of the study was to assess the belie...

Objective: The aim of this review was to evaluate a selection of major reporting aspects in manual therapy (MT) trials, before and after the publication of the CONSORT extension for non-pharmacological trials (CONSORTnpt) STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomly selected 100 MT trials published between 2000 and 2015 and divided them into a pre-CONSOR...

Background: the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in manual therapy (MT) has increased exponentially, and graphs are a usual way of summarizing the results. However, the quality of this kind of report has not been assessed yet. Objectives: to assess the quantity and quality of graphs in RCTs of MT. Methods: we conducted a methodologic...

Background: the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in manual therapy (MT) has increased exponentially. However, the quality of the reports remains heterogeneous. Objectives: to describe the reports of the information necessary for the interpretation of the results in RCTs in MT and to compare the RCTs' reports before and after the publi...

Background There is limited research regarding patients’ profiles and consumer attitudes and habits of osteopathy in Spain. The purpose of this study was to profile patients who regularly receive osteopathic care in Spain using an internationally developed standardized data collection tool. Method During the period between April 2014 and December...

The detailed reporting of any research intervention is crucial to evaluate its applicability into a routinely practice-based context. However, it has been estimated that, especially in non-pharmacological interventions, the published literature typically includes incomplete intervention details. In the field of manual medicine, where interventions...