TY - JOUR
A2 - Kennedy, Deborah A.
AU - Lee, Nam-Woo
AU - Kim, Gee-Heon
AU - Heo, In
AU - Kim, Koh-Woon
AU - Ha, In-Hyuk
AU - Lee, Jun-Hwan
AU - Hwang, Eui-Hyoung
AU - Shin, Byung-Cheul
PY - 2017
DA - 2017/12/26
TI - Chuna (or Tuina) Manual Therapy for Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
SP - 8218139
VL - 2017
AB - Objective. To review the literature and systematically evaluate the effectiveness of Chuna (or Tuina) manual therapy (C[T]MT) on pain and function for musculoskeletal disorders. Methods. We searched 15 English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean databases using relevant keywords. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of C(T)MT for musculoskeletal disorders were considered, and we limited analyses to studies with a low-risk bias for randomization and/or allocation concealment. Results. Sixty-six RCTs with 6,170 participants were included. One sham-controlled RCT showed that C(T)MT relieved pain more effectively than a sham control (SMD -3.09 [-3.59, -2.59]). For active-controlled RCTs, pooled meta-analysis showed that C(T)MT had statistically significant effects on pain reduction, especially compared to traction (P<0.00001), drugs (P=0.04), and physical therapies (P<0.0001). For functional improvement, combined effects of C(T)MT with drugs (P=0.04) and traction (P=0.05) also showed similar positive effects. Conclusions. This systematic review suggests that C(T)MT is safe and effective for pain reduction and functional improvement for musculoskeletal diseases; however, the evidence for functional improvement was not as strong as for pain reduction. For future studies, high-quality RCTs such as sham-controlled studies with standardized interventions are needed to provide sufficient evidence on the effects of C(T)MT for musculoskeletal diseases. Protocol registration number is CRD42016038307 04/07/2016.
SN - 1741-427X
UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8218139
DO - 10.1155/2017/8218139
JF - Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
PB - Hindawi
KW -
ER -