L i s te n to T h e A B M P Po d c a s t a t a b m p.co m /p o d c a s t s o r w h e reve r yo u a cce s s yo u r favo r i te p o d c a s t s 77
If the purpose of promoting evidence-
based medicine within the manual therapy
professions is to raise the quality bar and
walk in step with biomedical practice and
science, then it may be time to catch up,
not by shutting down any conversation
that mentions clinical experience or
plausible-but-unproven approaches, but
by following their actual example.
Notes
1. David L. Sackett et al., "Evidence Based
Medicine: What It Is and What It Isn't," British
Medical Journal 312, no. 7023 (January 1996):
71–72, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71.
2. Robert D. Mootz, "When Evidence and
Practice Collide," Journal of Manipulative
and Physiological Therapeutics 28, no.
8 (October 2005): 551–53, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2005.08.004.
3. Trisha Greenhalgh, How to Read a
Paper: The Basics of Evidence-Based
Medicine and Healthcare, 6th ed.
(London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019).
4. Edzard Ernst and M. H. Pittler, "Letter to the
Editor: Efficacy or Effectiveness?," Journal of
Internal Medicine 260 (2006): 488–90, https://
doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2006.01707.x.
5. Irwin Epstein, "Promoting Harmony Where
There is Commonly Conflict: Evidence-
Informed Practice as an Integrative
Strategy," Social Work in Health Care
48, no. 3 (April 2009): 216 –31, https://doi.
org/10.1080/00981380802589845; Paul
Glasziou, "Evidence Based Medicine: Does It
Make a Difference?," British Medical Journal
330, no. 7482 (January
2005): 92, https://
doi.org/10.1136/
bmj.330.7482.92-a;
R. McSherry,
"Developing, Exploring
and Refining a
Modified Whole
Systems-Based
Model of Evidence-
Informed Nursing"
(unpublished PhD
thesis, Middlesbrough,
England, United
Kingdom: School
of Health and
Social Care, Teesside University, n.d.).
6. Brendan McCormack et al., "A Realist
Review of Interventions and Strategies to
Promote Evidence-Informed Healthcare: A
Focus on Change Agency," Implementation
Science 8, no. 107 (September 2013): 1–12,
https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-8-107.
7. Bob Phillips, "The Crumbling of the Pyramid
of Evidence," Archives of Disease in Childhood
(blog), British Medical Journal, November 3,
2014, https://blogs.bmj.com/adc/2014/11/03/
the-crumbling-of-the-pyramid-of-evidence.
8. Maciej Płaszewski and Josette Bettany-
Saltikov, "Non-Surgical Interventions for
Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis: An
Overview of Systematic Reviews," PLoS One
9, no. 10 (October 2015): e110254, https://
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110254.
9. Melissa Sweet and Ray Moynihan, Improving
Population Health: The Uses of Systematic
Reviews (New York: Milbank Memorial Fund
and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2007), https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/6921.
10. Samuel R. Auger et al., "Functional Outcomes
After Extracapsular Dissection With Partial
Facial Nerve Dissection for Small and Large
Parotid Neoplasms," American Journal of
Otolaryngology 42, no 1 (January–February
2021):102770, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
amjoto.2020.102770; Georgios Psychogios et al.,
"Review of Surgical Techniques and Guide for
Decision Making in the Treatment of Benign
Parotid Tumors," European Archives of Oto-
rhino-laryngology 278, no. 1 (January 2021): 15–
29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06250-x.
11. Miquel Quer et al., "Surgical Options in
Benign Parotid Tumors: A Proposal for
Classification," European Archives of Oto-rhino-
laryngology 274, no. 11 (June 2017): 3825–36,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4650-4.
12. Michelle Ghert, "Should Residents
and Fellows Be Encouraged to Publish
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses?,"
Retraction Watch (blog), January 18, 2022,
www.retractionwatch.com/2022/01/18/
should-residents-and-fellows-be-
encouraged-to-publish-systematic-
reviews-and-meta-analyses.
13. Cheryl Ritenbaugh et al., "Whole Systems
Research: A Discipline for Studying
Complementary and Alternative Medicine,".
Alternative Therapies in Health and
Medicine 9, no. 4 (July–August 2003): 32–6.
14. Florian Schwerla et al., "Osteopathic
Manipulative Therapy in Women With
Postpartum Low Back Pain and Disability:
A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial,"
Journal of Osteopathic Medicine 115, no. 7
(July 2015): 416 –25, https://doi.org/10.7556/
jaoa.2015.087; Howard Vernon et al., "A
Randomized Pragmatic Clinical Trial of
Chiropractic Care for Headaches With and
Without a Self-Acupressure Pillow," Journal of
Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
38, no. 9 (November 2015): 637–43, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2015.10.002; Paul
Finch and Susan Bessonnette, "A Pragmatic
Investigation Into the Effects of Massage
Therapy on the Self Efficacy of Multiple
Sclerosis Clients," Journal of Bodywork and
Movement Therapies 18, no. 1 (January 2014):
11–16, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2013.04.001.
With 20 years in teaching and more
than a decade in journalism and academic
publishing, Sasha Chaitow, PhD, is series
editor for Elsevier's Leon Chaitow Library of
Bodywork and Movement Therapies and
former managing editor of The Journal of
Bodywork & Movement Therapies. Based
between the UK and Greece, she teaches
research literacy and science reporting at
the University of Patras, Greece. She is also
a professional artist, gallerist, and educator
who exhibits and teaches internationally.
SOMATIC RESE ARCH
