Gerard Alvarez1, Rodrigo Núñez-Cortés2, Ivan Solà3, Mercè Sitjà-Rabert4, Azahara Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe5, Carles Fernández4, Xavier Bonfill3, Gerard Urrútia3. 1. Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre - Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute, IIB Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain; Foundation Centre for Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration. Spain National Centre, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: gerardalv@gmail.com. 2. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. 3. Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre - Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute, IIB Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain. 4. Blanquerna School of Health Science (FCS), Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain; Global Research on Wellbeing (GRoW) Research Group, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain. 5. Blanquerna School of Health Science (FCS), Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain; Blanquerna Faculty of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport (FPCEE), Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to quantify and analyze the presence and type of self-acknowledged limitations (SALs) in a sample of manual therapy (MT) randomized controlled trials. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomly selected 120 MT trials. We extracted data related to SALs from the original reports and classified them into 12 categories. After data extraction, specific limitations within each category were identified. A descriptive analysis was performed using frequencies and percentages for qualitative variables. RESULTS: The number of SALs per trial article ranged from 0 to 8, and more than two-thirds of trials acknowledged at least two different limitations. Despite its small proportion, 9% of trials did not report SALs. The most common limitation declared, in almost half of our sample, related to sample size (47.5%) followed by limitations related to study length and follow-up (33.3%) and inadequate controls (32.5%). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that at least two different limitations are consistently acknowledged in MT trial reports, the most common being those related to sample size, study length, follow-up, and inadequate controls. Analysis of the reasons behind the SALs gives some insights about the main difficulties in conducting research in this field and may help develop strategies to improve future research.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to quantify and analyze the presence and type of self-acknowledged limitations (SALs) in a sample of manual therapy (MT) randomized controlled trials. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomly selected 120 MT trials. We extracted data related to SALs from the original reports and classified them into 12 categories. After data extraction, specific limitations within each category were identified. A descriptive analysis was performed using frequencies and percentages for qualitative variables. RESULTS: The number of SALs per trial article ranged from 0 to 8, and more than two-thirds of trials acknowledged at least two different limitations. Despite its small proportion, 9% of trials did not report SALs. The most common limitation declared, in almost half of our sample, related to sample size (47.5%) followed by limitations related to study length and follow-up (33.3%) and inadequate controls (32.5%). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that at least two different limitations are consistently acknowledged in MT trial reports, the most common being those related to sample size, study length, follow-up, and inadequate controls. Analysis of the reasons behind the SALs gives some insights about the main difficulties in conducting research in this field and may help develop strategies to improve future research.