International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine

Objective

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of a single session of a general osteopathic treatment (OG) on several psychological features.

Methods

Thirty-four asymptomatic female volunteers (age) completed baseline auto-questionnaires about anxiety, body satisfaction and global self-perception. Then, they were randomly assigned to OG or to control group (restful state). Each intervention was performed during 30 min. After the session, psychological data were collected using the same auto-questionnaires. To test the effect of treatment we used ANOVA for repeated measures and compared changes over time between OG and control groups.

Results

At baseline, characteristics were comparable between groups. Following the intervention, we observed improvements in psychological state in both OG and control groups. Nevertheless, OG had a significant larger effect over restful state for anxiety and global self-perception (p < 0.02).

Conclusions

The present study suggests that an osteopathic approach using articular and soft tissue mobilisations has an effect, at least in the short term, on anxiety and global body perception. Further investigation is needed to confirm the relevance and broaden the scope of the present study.

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