Table 6.
Effect Sizes of Patient-Reported Function of Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) in Injured and Comparison Groups: Baseline to Time Point Extended on Next Page
| Author (Product) |
Pathology |
Treatment Time × No. of Treatments |
Scale Used |
Time-Elapsed Effect Size With 95% Confidence Intervals (IASTM Listed First)a |
|
| Short-Term, wk | |||||
| 0 |
1 |
||||
| Blanchette and Normand41 (GT) | Lateral elbow epicondylopathy | Unspecified × 10 | PRTEE | ||
| Sevier and Stegink-Jansen49 (Astym) | Lateral elbow epicondylopathy | Unspecified × 8 | DASH | ||
| VAS function | |||||
| Burke et al42 (GT) | Carpal tunnel syndrome | Unspecified × 10 | Function scale | 0.54 (−0.28, 1.35) | |
| 0.82 (−0.09, 1.74) | |||||
| Crothers et al43 (GT) | Nonspecific thoracic pain | 10–15 min × max of 10 | ODI | 0.64 (0.27, 1.00) | |
| 0.49 (0.01, 0.97) | |||||
| McCormack et al47 (Astym) | Achilles tendinopathy | 20–30 min × 12 | VISA-A | ||
Abbreviations: DASH, Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand scale; GT, Graston Technique; N/R, time point measurement but no data reported; ODI, Oswestry Disability Index; PRTEE, Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation; VAS, visual analog scale; VISA-A, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment Achilles-Specific Questionnaire.
Effect size of <0.35 is considered trivial, 0.35–0.79 is considered small, 0.80–1.50 is considered moderate, >1.50 is considered large.29,31 A positive effect size in measurements indicates an improvement in function.
The IASTM group was at least 1 Rhea effect size category larger than the listed comparison group.