The relative efficacy of chiropractic manipulative therapy compared to placebo in patients with plantar fasciitis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative efficacy of chiropractic manipulative therapy as opposed to placebo ultrasound, in terms of objective and subjective clinical findings, in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. This was a randomised, controlled, clinical trial consisting of two groups. Group A received chiropractic manipulative therapy as their treatment protocol and Group B received placebo treatment in the form of detuned ultrasound as their treatment protocol. Each group consisted of fifteen subjects between the ages of 21 and 68 years who were randomly assigned to their respective groups. It is hypothesised that chiropractic manipulative therapy will be effective in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Subjects diagnosed with plantar fasciitis were included in the study. The treatment regime consisted of a course of nine treatments spread over a three week time period with a follow-up consultation one month after the final treatment consultation. Subjective and objective measurements were taken at the initial, final and one-month follow-up consultations. Subjective data consisted of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Numerical pain Rating Scale - 101 and the Foot Function Index. The objective data was collected by means of Algometer measurements. The data was analysed statistically using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney unpaired U-test for the categorical variables and the parametric two-sample unpaired t-test for the continuous variables for the inter-group comparison. For the intra-group comparison the non-parametric Wilcoxon's signed rank test was used for the categorical variables and the parametric twosample paired t-test was used for the continuous variables.