The effect of sub-occipital inhibition on lung function in asymptomatic participants.
Item
- Title
- The effect of sub-occipital inhibition on lung function in asymptomatic participants.
- Author(s)
- Dispenza, E
- Abstract
- Title: The effect of sub-occipital inhibition on lung function in asymptomatic participants.Aim: Correct breathing is of paramount importance to health and to the co-ordination of musculo-skeletal function throughout the body. The incidence of dysfunctional breathing seems to be increasing, especially across the asthmatic population.In the osteopathic literature, anecdotal evidence suggests that osteopathic manipulative treatment can positively affect lung function. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of sub-occipital inhibition technique on lung function, measuring via spirometry forced expiratory volume (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), in order to justify the implementation of osteopathic treatment on conditions which decrease lung function. Method:The investigation employed a randomised, single-blind, between-groups design. 42 healthy participants were recruited from the third and fourth year of the European School of Osteopathy. Participants were then randomly allocated into an experimental, sham and control condition. The dependent variables were measured through a portable spirometer. Readings were taken twice before and twice after the intervention, the duration of which was set to three minutes. Results: A paired t-test was used to compare the difference between FEV1 and FVC before and after intervention within the three conditions. This showed no statistical significance. A Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann Whitney U were employed to compare the difference between groups. These showed a statistical significant difference in FEV1 between sham and control group, which highlights a decrease in FEV1. Conclusion: lthough the experiment showed a significant difference in one of the lung function values, this is not in accordance with osteopathic literature. The results suggest that sub-occipital inhibition has no significant effect on lung function. However, statistical power and effect size of the present investigation proved to be very small. Future research should possibly focus on whether spirometry is the best way to assess parasympathetic changes within the body. Also, a bigger sample size should be employed.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2014
- Date Submitted
- 20.1.2015 16:43:40
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15492
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Respiratory, Inhibition, Spirometry
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Dispenza, E, “The effect of sub-occipital inhibition on lung function in asymptomatic participants.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 17, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/672