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Table 1 Summary of included studies dealing with the reliability of diagnosis in visceral osteopathy

From: Reliability of diagnosis and clinical efficacy of visceral osteopathy: a systematic review

First authors

Subjects (number; disease status; age in yrs)

Raters (number; degree(s); expertise)

Study Characteristics & Parameter(s)

Reliability Measure Used

Main Results

Landry [16]

N = 41; healthy; A = 24.

N = 2; last-year osteopathy students; clinical internships.

Inter-rater: (1) proximal-duodenum-area mobility; (2) distal-duodenum-area mobility (4 possible modalities for (1) & (2)).

Cohens’s kappa

Inter: (1): 0.14 (2): 0.0448

Terrier [17]

N = 50; patients in osteopathic cares; A = 33

N = 2; last-year osteopathy students; clinical internships.

Inter-rater: ascendant-colon-area dynamic (4 possible modalities).

Cohens’s kappa

Inter: 0.322

Rittler [18]

N = 18; osteopathy students with an “osteopathic dysfunction”; not reported.

N = 6; osteopaths graduated in 2009; 5 use usually the assessed test and 1 has never used it.

Intra & inter-rater: posture variations (“global listening test”; 6 modalities).

Cohens’s kappa

Intra: from − 0.05 to 0.12

Inter: from − 0.25 to 0.37

Gruber [19]

N = 43; 20 healthy and 21 spine-painful patients; A = 30–75

N = 2; osteopaths graduated in 2009; 6 yrs.

Intra & inter-rater: abdominal diaphragm tension (2 modalities: symmetrical or asymmetrical).

Cohens’s kappa

intra: from − 0.02 to 0.57

inter: − 0.35

Cònsol Urgellés [20]

N = 40; not reported; A = 33

N = 3; osteopaths; recently graduated.

Intra & inter-rater: (1) radial pulse evolution during the Adson-Wright test (or Soto-Hall test) (3 modalities: presence, decrease or abolition);

(2) When (1) is “decrease” or “abolition”, location of the “visceral osteopathic dysfunction”.

Fleiss’kappa

Intra: (1) from 0.65 to 1; (2) from 0.63 to 1

Inter: (1) from 0.61 to 0.70; (2) from − 0.14to 0.61

Zeller [21]

N = 44; 24 patients with an “asymptomatic hepatic dysfunction” and 20 with a symptomatic hepatic issuea; A = 27–73.

N = 2; osteopath-physiotherapists; 2 yrs. in osteopathy and over 10 yrs. in physiotherapy.

Inter-rater: hepatic-area mobility (4 modalities).

Cohens’s kappa

Inter: 0.26

Darty [22]

N = 10; healthy; A = 23

N = 12; 5 osteopaths and 7 last-year osteopathy students; not reported.

Intra & inter-rater: (1) sensibility; (2) “wall depressibility”; (3) “organ depressibility”; (4) “organ location” ((1),(2), (3), (4) for stomach, caecum, sigmoid and transverse colon; 4 modalities for (1), (2), (3) and distance measure for (4)); (5) “organ volume” (metrical measure; not for stomach).

Intra: variation coefficient (VC)

Inter: Student test, correlation coefficient and ICCa.

Intra: (1) & (2) not reported; (3) VC < 1% (all the organs); (4) 10 ≤ VC ≤ 125.11 depending on the organ; (5) 21.13 ≤ VC ≤ 38.12 depending on the organ.

Interb: (1) & (2) not reported; (3) ICC > 0.9 for all the organs; (4) 0,4 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.98 depending on the organ; (5) 0.64 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.99 depending on the organ.

Verbaarschot [23]

N = 31; healthy; A = 17–69

N = 2; osteopaths; specifically trained for the study.

Intra-rater of: visceral tension (3 modalities: normal, “hypertension” or “hypotension”).

Cohens’s kappa

Intra: from 0.372 to 0.542

  1. Legend: “N” number; “A” age; “ICC” intraclass correlation coefficient. a No more information are given.b Only the ICC are reported because the other measures are not recommended for reliability [16]