Efficacy of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment in Improving Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Orthopedic Diagnoses Admitted to a Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Unit

Brittain, Paul D., Efficacy of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment in Improving Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Orthopedic Diagnoses Admitted to a Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Unit Master of Public Health (Biomedical Sciences), June, 1997, 75 pp., 12 tables, bibliography, 16 titles. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in improving clinical outcomes in patients who had undergone a surgical procedure for either a hip fracture or osteoarthritis affecting the hip or knee. OMT treatment subjects were recruited from an inpatient rehabilitation unit housed with an osteopathic hospital. OMT subjects received a standard course of OMT throughout their stay in the rehabilitation unit. Clinical outcomes were assessed principally through the administration of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), a standard disability measure, to study subjects on admission to and discharge from the rehabilitation unit. Mean FIM score charges were compared between the OMT and a control group of similar patients. Receipt of OMT was associated with shorter length-of-stay, higher total FIM score change, and greater improvement on FIM locomotion items. These findings suggest that OMT is a beneficial therapy for this population of patients.