The Effect of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on Proprioception in Adults: A Pilot Study

Introduction: This study aims to investigate if proprioception is the mechanism through which osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) corrects somatic dysfunctions. OMT focuses on resolving structural asymmetry in the body that may interfere with physiologic function, including proprioception. Multiple theories have been proposed regarding the physiologic mechanisms of OMT and the effect on proprioception, with few studies objectively establishing a connection. Hypothesis: Significant change in measurements of proprioception was expected in the treatment group (OMT) over the 4-week period. Methods: For the study, 35 adults recruited from the Des Moines University community were randomized equally into treatment and control groups. For 3 weeks, the treatment group received weekly osteopathic structural exams (OSE) and OMT, while the control group underwent the same OSE but without treatment. Proprioception was assessed using force plate measurements collected during two-leg and single-leg tests prior to the first intervention, immediately after the first intervention, and 1 week after last intervention. Measurements included anterior-posterior sway, medial-lateral sway, average velocity, area, path length and time, which were analyzed with a linear model of mixed effects for repeated measures to account for the fixed effects (time and treatments), interaction effects and the random subject effects. Results: Over the 4-week period, significant differences were found for 4 measurements: two-leg eyes-open-path-length (p=0.0342), two-leg eyes-open-average-velocity (p=0.0334), single-right-leg eyes-open-average-velocity (p=0.0145), and single-right-leg eyes-closed-medial-lateral-sway (p=0.0488). Conclusion: Certain measurements of proprioception changed in an adult population over a 4-week course with 3 weekly OMT treatments. These results indicate OMT may be altering proprioception through the correction of somatic dysfunctions. Our results suggest a need for further research investigating the effects of OMT on proprioception in symptomatic populations and larger sample sizes.