Efficacy of Manual Therapy for the Elderly with Chronic Low Back Pain: A systematic review

Abstract

Manual therapy (MT) is a well-known physiotherapy approach for low back pain (LBP). Yet, evidence of its effectiveness for elders is hesitant. Objectives To determine the effects of MT on pain, physical function, disability, QOL, and psychological aspects among the elderly with chronic LBP. Methods Articles between the years 2012-2022 were retrieved using electronic searching. The quality assessment used McMaster Critical Review Form for Quantitative Studies. Findings Three articles were reviewed. Implications MT effectively improves pain, physical function, disability, QOL, and psychology among the elderly with LBP. Nevertheless, further investigation is needed to gain robust evidence for clinical practice. Keywords: Low back pain; manual therapy; elderly eISSN 2514-7528 ©2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour StudiesCollege of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/jabs.v8i25.426