Table 1.

Characteristics of the included studies and main results.

	Participants		Intervention		Outcome (Tool)	Main Results
Author (Year)	Mean Age (SD)	Diagnosis	OMT Group	Sham/Placebo Group
Palmer et al., 2023 [42]	OMT:25.4 (2.4) Sham:25.0 (1.8)	NSNP	OMT (n = 10)	Light touch (n = 8)	Pain (VAS)	ND
					Disability (NDI)	ND
					QoL (SF-12)
					-Physical	ND
					-Mental	ND
Schwerla et al., 2008 [41]	OMT:41.5 (6.1) Sham:44.8 (9.4)	NSNP	OMT (n = 21)	Placebo ultrasound (n = 16)	Pain (NRS)
					-Actual pain	ND
					-Average pain	↑
					-Worst pain	ND
					QoL (SF-36)
					-Bodily pain	↑
Auger et al., 2021 [44]	OMT:25.9 (2.5) Sham:25.3 (1.6)	NSLBP	OMT (n = 10)	Light touch (n = 10)	Pain (VAS)	ND
					Disability (ODI)	ND
					QoL (SF-12)
					-Physical	ND
					-Mental	ND
Nguyen et al., 2021 [42]	OMT:48.3 (11.9) Sham:47.5 (10.6)	NSLBP	OMT (n = 164)	Light touch (n = 159)	Pain (NRS)	ND
					Disability (QBPDI)	↑
					QoL (SF-12)
					-Physical	ND
					-Mental	ND
Hensel et al., 2015 [49]	OMT:23.9 (4.1) Sham:24.1 (4.1)	Pregnant women with LBP	OMT (n = 136)	Placebo ultrasound (n = 133)	Pain (VAS)
					-Actual pain	ND
					-Average pain	ND
					-Best pain	ND
					-Worst pain	ND
					Disability (RMDQ)	ND
Licciardone et al., 2013 [47]	OMT:41 (29–51) Sham:40 (29–50)	NSCLBP	OMT (n = 230)	Light touch (n = 225)	Pain (VAS)	↑
					Disability (RMDQ)	ND
					QoL (SF-36)	ND
Licciardone et al., 2010 [48]	OMT:23.8 (5.5) Sham:23.7 (4.4)	Pregnant women with LBP	OMT (n = 48)	Placebo ultrasound (n = 47)	Pain (VAS)	ND
					Disability (RMDQ)	ND
Licciardone et al., 2003 [46]	OMT:49 (12) Sham:52 (12)	NSCLBP	OMT (n = 32)	Light touch and sham OMT (n = 19)	Pain (VAS)	ND
					Disability (RMDQ)	ND
					QoL (SF-36)	ND
Gibson et al., 1985 [45]	OMT:34 (14) Sham:40 (14)	NSLBP	OMT (n = 35)	Placebo short-wave diathermy (n = 33)	Pain (VAS)
					-Daytime pain	ND
					-Nocturnal pain	ND

OMT: Osteopathic manipulative treatment; NSNP: non-specific neck pain; NSLBP; non-specific low-back pain; LBP: low-back pain; NSCLBP: non-specific chronic low-back pain; VAS: visual analog scale; NRS: numerical rating scale; NDI: neck disability index; ODI: oswestry disability index; QBPDI: Quebec back pain disability index; RMDQ: Roland Morris disability questionnaire; QoL: quality of life; SF-12: short-form health survey; SF-36: short-form health survey; ND: no statistical differences; ↑: statistically significant differences in favor to the OMT group.