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Abstract:
Background:
Bronchial asthma is a global pulmonary condition that can affect any individual regardless of age. The number of asthmatics, including adults as well as adolescents, is increasing every year. These patients have to deal with major impairments in their quality of life, work and other activities, as well as in their leisure time.
Study Objective:
Can osteopathic treatments (in addition to standard medical treatment) bring about an improvement in pulmonary function parameters and quality of life in adults with chronic bronchial asthma?
Study design:
Randomised controlled study. Follow-up at 6 weeks after end of treatment.
Setting:
The study was conducted in a private osteopathic practice. Patients were recruited via specialists and general practitioners, posters displayed in hospitals, and self-help groups.
Patients:
Twenty-five participants with a medical diagnosis of chronic bronchial asthma were distributed among two groups by external randomisation. Control group: standard medical treatment (10 patients); treatment group: standard medical treatment plus osteopathic treatment (15 patients). All of the 25 patients completed the study. During the study period, patients received no other forms of therapy or treatment besides the existing standard medical treatment.
Intervention:
The treatment group received 5 osteopathic treatments of 60 min each, at one-week intervals. The patients were treated in accordance with the “black box principle”, taking into consideration the basic principles of osteopathic medicine. Treatment was based on the principles of osteopathy, i.e. the osteopathic dysfunctions found on the first day of therapy were treated in an individualised manner, as required by the patient.
Target parameters:
Spirometric measurement of pulmonary function (asthma-relevant parameters FVC, FEV1, and PEF). Assessment of subjective well-being by means of an asthma patient questionnaire (FAP). A medication diary was to be kept.
Results:
The overall assessment of pulmonary parameter readings revealed a marked improvement in the treatment group, whereas all parameters had deteriorated in the control group. The improvements at the end of treatment amounted to 21% for FVC (p=0.010), 19% for FEV1 (p=0.015), and 26% for PEF (p=0.009). This positive tendency was still evident at the time of follow-up. The evaluation of the questionnaire (FAP-LQges) revealed an improvement of 22% (p=0.003) in the treatment group, as opposed to only 1% in the control group.
Conclusions:
Due to the small number of patients and uneven distribution, uniformity among the groups could not be achieved for some baseline values. In comparison to the control group, patients in the treatment group showed remarkable improvements in pulmonary function parameters and quality of life. Even at the time of follow-up after 6 weeks, these improvements were still evident at almost the same magnitude, which suggests a sustained effect of the treatment. This study shows that osteopathic treatments in addition to standard therapy can produce a positive effect in chronic bronchial asthma. Further studies with larger patient populations should be conducted to corroborate these results.
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