Table 1.
Study characteristics
| Reference | Origin | Chronic pain condition | Sample size | Mean age | Percentage of women | Experimental intervention | Control intervention | Assessment points | Outcomes | Safety | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnadottir 2013 [36] | Iceland | Migraine | 20 | 37.6 ± 9.3 | 90% | 6 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 4 weeks | WL | Post | - Functional disability (HIT-6) | N.r. | N.r. |
| Bialoszewski 2014 [37] | Poland | Low back pain | 55 | 33.0 ± 7.0 | N.r. | 3 CST treatments (standardized therapy protocol) over 2 weeks | 3 trigger point treatments over 2 weeks | Post | - Pain intensity (LPIQ) | N.r. | N.r. |
| - Functional disability (LPIQ) | |||||||||||
| Castro-Sanchez 2011 [38] | Spain | Fibromyalgia | 109 | 52.5 ± 11.7 | 100% | 40 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 20 weeks | 40 non-manual sham treatments (inactive magnet therapy) over 20 weeks | Post 7mFU | - Global improvement (CGII) | No withdrawal due to AEs | No specific funding |
| Castro-Sanchez 2016 [39] | Spain | Low back pain | 64 | 50.0 ± 12.0 | 66% | 10 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 10 weeks | 10 soft tissue massage treatments over 10 weeks | Post 3.5mFU | - Pain intensity (NRS) | No withdrawal due to AEs | No specific funding |
| - Functional disability (RMQ) | |||||||||||
| Elden 2013 [40] | Sweden | Pelvic girdle pain | 123 | 30.6 ± 3.9 | 100% | 5 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 8 weeks + TAU | TAU | Post | - Pain intensity (VAS) | Patients with minor AEs: CST = 5/63 UC = 6/60 | Government research grant |
| - Functional disability (ODI) | |||||||||||
| - Physical quality of life (EQ. 5D) | |||||||||||
| Haller 2016 [41] | Germany | Neck pain | 54 | 44.6 ± 10.0 | 81.5% | 8 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 8 weeks | 8 sham manual treatments (light touch) over 8 weeks | Post 5mFU | - Pain intensity (VAS) | Patients with minor AEs: CST = 7/27 Sham = 9/27 | Funding from university (treatments) and CST associations (publication fee) |
| - Functional disability (NDI) | |||||||||||
| - Physical quality of life (SF12-PSC) | |||||||||||
| - Mental quality of life (SF12-MSC) | |||||||||||
| - Global improvement (PGII) | |||||||||||
| Hanten 1999 [42] | United States | Tension-type headache | 60 | 36.0 ± 12.0 | 71.7% | 1 CST treatment (single technique) | No treatment | Post | - Pain intensity (VAS) | N.r. | N.r. |
| Mann 2012 [35] | United States | Migraine | 69 | 42.1 ± 16.0 | 94.2% | 8 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 8 weeks + TAU | 8 non-manual sham treatments (inactive/active magnet therapy) over 8 weeks + TAU | Post | - Pain intensity (Diary: severe headache hours/day) | N.r. | Government research grant |
| - Functional disability (MIDAS) | |||||||||||
| Mataran-Penarrocha 2011 [43] | Spain | Fibromyalgia | 104 | 49.1 ± 14.1 | 96.4% | 50 CST treatments (semi-standardized therapy protocol) over 25 weeks | 50 non-manual sham treatments (disconnected ultrasound) over 25 weeks | Post 11mFU | - Pain intensity (SF36-BP) | Patients with AEs: CST = 0/43 Sham = 0/41 | N.r. |
| - Functional disability (SF36-PF) | |||||||||||
| - Physical quality of life (SF36-GH) | |||||||||||
| - Mental quality of life (SF36-MH) | |||||||||||
| Nourbakhsh 2008 [44] | United States | Lateral Epicondylitis | 23 | 52.4 ± 7.2 | 39.1% | 6 CST treatments (single technique) over 3 weeks | 6 manual sham treatments (light touch) over 3 weeks | Post | - Pain intensity (NRS) | N.r. | N.r. |
| - Functional disability (PSFS) |
Abbreviations: AE Adverse event, CGII Clinical Global Impression of Improvement Scale CST Craniosacral Therapy, EQ. 5D European Quality of Life Measure, HIT-6 Headache Impact Test, LPIQ Laitinen Pain Indicator Questionnaire, mFU months of follow-up after randomization, MIDAS Migraine Disability Assessment Score, NDI Neck Disability Index, N.r.: not reported, NRS Numeric Rating Scale, ODI Oswestry Disability Index, PGII Patient Global Impression of Improvement Scale, PSFS Patient Specific Functional Scale, RMQ Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, SF12/36-PCS/MCS/BP/GH/MH/PF: 12/36-Item Short Form Health Survey-Physical Component Score/Mental Component Score/Bodily Pain Subscale/Mental Health Subscale/General Health Subscale/Physical Function Subscale, TAU Treatment as usual, VAS Visual Analogue Scale, WL Waiting list