Effect of Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy on Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- 1 March 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH in Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
- Vol. 120 (3), 133-143
- https://doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2020.026
Abstract
Context: Traditional management options for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have produced low remission rates. As a result, the medical community has turned to complementary and alternative medicine for adjunctive treatment. Objective: To investigate the efficacy of adjunctive osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMTh; manipulative care provided by foreign-trained osteopaths) in individuals with GAD. Methods: This open-label, nonrandomized, black-box study took place at a tertiary care mental health clinic in Toronto, Canada. Adult outpatient participants aged 18 to 65 years with a primary diagnosis of moderate-severe GAD (HAM-A score of ≥20) with or without comorbidities were enrolled in the study between June 2014 and January 2015. Patients who qualified and completed the study received 5 individually tailored OMTh sessions over the course of 8 to 9 weeks. A diagnostic psychiatric assessment (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview version 6.0.0) was conducted to confirm diagnoses, along with physician-administered and self-reported measures of anxiety, including the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Intolerance for Uncertainty Scale. Results: Significant reductions in total HAM-A scores after OMTh were observed (P<.0001). Significant reductions in total Intolerance for Uncertainty Scale scores were also observed (P<.0001). Beck Anxiety Inventory scores were not found to change significantly with OMTh. Response (defined as 50% reduction of symptoms) and remission (defined as HAM-A score of ≤7) rates were found to be 62% and 26.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Osteopathic manipulative therapy may be a valuable adjunct to conventional therapy in patients with GAD, thus warranting further investigation using double-blind procedures.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Intolerance of Uncertainty: A Common Factor in the Treatment of Emotional DisordersJournal of Clinical Psychology, 2013
- Regulation of the stress response by the gut microbiota: Implications for psychoneuroendocrinologyPsychoneuroendocrinology, 2012
- Clinical anxiety, cortisol and interleukin-6: Evidence for specificity in emotion–biology relationshipsBrain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2010
- The relationship between anxiety disorders and suicide attempts: findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related ConditionsDepression and Anxiety, 2010
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mechanisms in Mind-Body Medicine: Development of an Integrative Framework for Psychophysiological ResearchEXPLORE, 2010
- Osteopathic manipulative treatment and its relationship to autonomic nervous system activity as demonstrated by heart rate variability: a repeated measures studyOsteopathic Medicine and Primary Care, 2008
- The Good-Subject Effect: Investigating Participant Demand CharacteristicsThe Journal of General Psychology, 2008
- Cranial Manipulation Can Alter Sleep Latency and Sympathetic Nerve Activity in Humans: A Pilot StudyThe Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005
- The case for uncontrolled clinical trials: a starting point for the evidence base for CAMComplementary Therapies in Medicine, 2001
- A RATING SCALE FOR DEPRESSIONJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1960