Clinical Pharmacy

Biography

Biography: Joachim Kaufmann

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the combination of “number of treatments” and “interval between treatments” in order to optimize the effect of Osteopathic treatment of foot related pain. Material & Methods: The material consists of 32 female and 22 male patients with a mean age of 42 years and a BMI of 27.0. The study was performed as an observer blinded, randomised single centre trial with 32-factorial design. “Number of treatments” and “Treatment intervals” was used as the two factors. The patients were allocated to treatment groups by nested block randomisation. The primary variables “Pain at rest” and “Pain at load” were recorded on 10 cm Visual Analogue Scales and the Ankle-Brachial Index. Results: Four treatments with seven days treatment interval were the superior combination regarding reduction in pain at rest (p<0.01). Four treatments gave also significant (p<0.01) reduction in pain at load both for seven and ten days treatment intervals, but 10 days treatment intervals were the superior combination for reduction in pain at load. Number of treatments seems to be the dominant factor regarding both pain reductions at rest and at load. The study detected an obvious interaction between the two factors. By increasing the number of treatments, the duration between treatments has to be increased similarly. Conclusion: The combinations for obtaining the largest pain reduction at rest and load seem to be four treatments with seven and ten days treatment intervals, respectively.