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Table 1 Research-based studies of manual therapy use for headache disorders

From: A critical review of manual therapy use for headache disorders: prevalence, profiles, motivations, communication and self-reported effectiveness

Authors Year

Country/

Region

Population/

Profession

Study Method

Sample size

Themes †

Prevalence use based on Headache Groupings

Ailliet et al 2010 [65]

Europe (Belgium)

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Postal questionnaire by chiropractors

517 patients

1

Headache: Chiropractic 1.9%

Bethell et al 2013 [76]

North America

General population

Secondary analysis of national survey

2411

2

 

Bigal et al 2008 [19]

North America

General population

Longitudinal study following a cohort of headache sufferers

Chronic migraine (520), Episodic migraine (9424)

1

Chronic migraine: Chiropractic 36.2% Physiotherapist 13.3% Episodic migraine: Chiropractic 25.7%, Physiotherapy 4.2%

Brown et al 2014 [61]

Australia

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Cross-sectional survey completed by patients

486

1

Headaches: Chiropractic 5.5%

Cherkin et al 2002 [62]

North America

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Practitioner completed questionnaire

2550

1

Headaches: Chiropractic Massachusetts 4.6%, Arizona 6.4%

Cooke et al 2010 [49]

North America

General population

Telephone survey to public

1210

1

Migraine: Chiropractic 6%, Massage 2%, Osteopathy 1%

Coulter et al 2002 [66]

North America

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Patient questionnaires

1275

1

Headaches: Chiropractic 4.0%

Brown et al, 2013 [69]

Australia

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Cross-sectional general population survey questionnaire

757

1

Headache: Chiropractic 45.5%

French et al 2013 [64]

Australia

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Cross-sectional observational practitioner survey

4464

1

Headaches: Chiropractic 4%

Gaul et al 2009 [70]

Europe (Germany/Austria)

Headache clinic population

Questionnaire based patient survey

432

1,2,3,4

Mixed primary headaches: Massage 46.1%, Physiotherapy 27.8%

Gaul et al 2011 [72]

Europe (Germany/Austria)

Headache clinic population

Questionnaire-based survey

448

1,2

Migraine (78.5%): Physiotherapy 18.7%, Massage 56.4%

Gaumer G 2006 [56]

North America

General population

Random telephone survey

800

1

Headaches: Chiropractic 5.3%

Goksel et al 2014 [73]

Europe (Turkey)

Headache clinic population

Patient questionnaire through interview

110

1,2,4

Migraine (64.6%): Massage 51%

Hartvigsen et al 2003 [68]

Europe (Denmark)

Manual Therapy/Chiropractic

Questionnaire data collected by practitioners

1897 patients

1

Headache:

Chiropractic 4%

Jackson P 2001 [63]

North America

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Postal questionnaire to chiropractors

1500

1

Headaches:

Chiropractic 15.4%

Kristoffersen et al 2012 [20]

Europe (Norway)

General population

Cross-sectional epidemiological survey

405

1,2

All Primary Headaches: Chiropractic 28% Physiotherapy 52%

Kristoffersen et al 2013 [79]

Europe (Norway)

General population

Cross-sectional epidemiological postal survey and clinical interview

253 primary 82 secondary

4

 

Lambert et al 2010 [77]

Europe (UK)

Headache clinic population

Self-administered questionnaire

92

2,3

 

Lyngberg et al 2005 [1, 52]

Europe (Denmark)

General population

Medical doctor interviews

740

1

Mostly migraine: Chiropractic 9% Physiotherapy 5%

Malone et al 2012 [71]

North America

General population

On-line survey via migraine website

2735

1

Migraine: Massage 29.7%

Minen et al 2014

North America

Headache clinic population

Secondary analysis of baseline questionnaire data

225

1,2

Migraine with/without aura: Chiropractic 27.1%, Massage 18.2%, Physiotherapy 4.9%

Morin et al 2014 [54]

North America (Quebec)

Manual Therapy population

Prospective survey

1402

1

Migraine: Osteopathy 1.7% Headaches: Osteopathy 2.7%

Ndetan et al 2009 [57]

North America

General population

Secondary Survey analysis

31248

1

Headache: Chiropractic 15.1%

Orrock P 2009 [75]

Australia

Manual Therapy population/Osteopathy

Mailed practitioner questionnaire

2238 patient records

1

Headache: Osteopathy 10%

Ossendorf et al 2009 [60]

Europe (Germany)

Pain clinic population

Physician-administered structured interview and questionnaires

288

(136 with Headache)

1,4

Headache: Chiropractic 22%, Physiotherapy 35%, Osteopathy 9%, Massage 54%

Rossi et al 2005 [53]

Europe (Italy)

Headache clinic population

Physician-administered structured interview

481

1,2,3,4

Migraine: Massage 10.1%, Chiropractic 8.9%, Osteopathy 2.7%

Rossi et al 2006 [58]

Italy

Headache clinic population

Physician-administered structured interview

110

1,2,3,4

Headache (CTTH): Chiropractic 21.9%, Massage 17.8%

Rossi et al 2008 [59]

Europe (Italy)

Headache clinic population

Physician administered structured interview

100

1,2,4

Headache (cluster): Chiropractic 12%, Acupressure 12%

Rubinstein et al 2000 [67]

Europe (Netherland)

Manual Therapy population/Chiropractic

Retrospective patient questionnaires

833

1

Headache: Chiropractic 7%

Sanderson et al 2013 [21]

USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France and Australia

General population

Web-based screening questionnaire

16663

1,3

Chronic migraine: 10% USA Canada 10%, France/UK 0%, Germany 1%, Australia 14%

Episodic Migraine: USA 7% Canada 4%, France/UK 1%, Germany 6%, Australia 14%

S von Peter et al 2002 [78]

North America

Headache clinic population

Patient interview using a standardized questionnaire

73

2,3,4

Tension, Migraine (27%) and other headaches: Chiropractic 15.1%, Massage 42.5%

Vukovic et al 2010 [48]

Europe (Croatia)

General population

Random cross-sectional survey questionnaire

616

1

Migraine: Chiropractic 9.5%, Physiotherapy 19.4% Tension headache: Chiropractic 4.0%, Physiotherapy 12.2%

Wells et al 2010 [51]

North America

General population

National cross-sectional survey sample

23,393

1

Migraine 18.5% and Headaches 15.7%: Chiropractic/massage pooled

Wells et al 2011 [50]

North America

General population

National cross-sectional survey sample

23,393

1,3

Migraine: Chiropractic 15.4%, Massage 15.1%

Xue et al 2008 [55]

Australia

General population

Cross-sectional telephone survey

1067

1

Headaches: Chiropractic 9.3%

  1. Themes †: 1 = MT prevalence use, 2 = Profile and motivations, 3 = Concurrent use, 4 = Self-reported effectiveness