TY - JOUR AU - Xia, Ting AU - Wilder, David G. AU - Gudavalli, Maruti R. AU - DeVocht, James W. AU - Vining, Robert D. AU - Pohlman, Katherine A. AU - Kawchuk, Gregory N. AU - Long, Cynthia R. AU - Goertz, Christine M. PY - 2014 DA - 2014/08/08 TI - Study protocol for patient response to spinal manipulation – a prospective observational clinical trial on physiological and patient-centered outcomes in patients with chronic low back pain JO - BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine SP - 292 VL - 14 IS - 1 AB - Low back pain (LBP) is a major health issue due to its high prevalence rate and socioeconomic cost. While spinal manipulation (SM) is recommended for LBP treatment by recently published clinical guidelines, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Spinal stiffness is routinely examined and used in clinical decisions for SM delivery. It has also been explored as a predictor for clinical improvement. Flexion-relaxation phenomenon has been demonstrated to distinguish between LBP and healthy populations. The primary objective of the current study is to collect preliminary estimates of variability and effect size for the associations of these two physiological measures with patient-centered outcomes in chronic LBP patients. Additionally biomechanical characteristics of SM delivery are collected with the intention to explore the potential dose–response relationship between SM and LBP improvement. SN - 1472-6882 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-14-292 DO - 10.1186/1472-6882-14-292 ID - Xia2014 ER -