The occurrence of somatic dysfunctions in relation to the Littlejohn mechanics- an experimental study using algometry for the assessment of somatic dysfunctions.
Item
- Title
- The occurrence of somatic dysfunctions in relation to the Littlejohn mechanics- an experimental study using algometry for the assessment of somatic dysfunctions.
- Author(s)
- Neumayr, S
- Abstract
- The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether somatic dysfunctions in the thoracic and lumbar spine have a higher occurrence at the pivots T3,T4, T9, L3 and L5 of the Littlejohn mechanical model. Somatic dysfunctions were diagnosed using tenderness as a diagnostic criteria. With the use of an algometer 3kg of pressure were applied onto the spinous processes in the thoracic and lumbar spines of 60 participants. Three readings were taken and tenderness reported twice or more by the subject was considered to be indicative of a somatic dysfunction.A chi square test was applied first to test for a uniform model of SDs at pivots and non-pivots and second to test for a non-uniform model of SDs at pivots and non-pivots which allowed for a higher occurrence of SDs at pivots. Since both the chi square and the Kolmogorov-Smimov-test did not show a normal distribution of the data, the Mann-Whitney U-test instead of the T-test was used to calculate if there was a significant difference at the occurrence of SDs at pivots and non-pivots. The results showed that SDs in the thoracic and lumbar spine did not follow a normal distribution. There was a higher incidence of SDs in mid thoracic region.There was great variance of SD occurrence between vertebral levels in general and also between pivots. A higher occurrence of SDs at pivots in comparison to non-pivots could not be concluded from the data. This study concluded that although the Littlejohn mechanical model might not be able to predict where SDs occur, its role within the treatment approach needs to be assessed.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2012
- Date Submitted
- 22.1.2013 16:23:35
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15232
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Littlejohn mechanics, Somatic dysfunction, Algometry
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Neumayr, S, “The occurrence of somatic dysfunctions in relation to the Littlejohn mechanics- an experimental study using algometry for the assessment of somatic dysfunctions.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 2, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/833