Evidence-based assessment of potential therapeutic effects of adjunct osteopathic medicine for multidisciplinary care of acute and convalescent COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Highlights OMT modulates inflammation and immunity, reduces mortality & hospital length of stay OMT can decrease symptoms of acute patients and boost conventional care efficiency OMT can improve the convalescence of patients and reduce long-term consequences OMT has a substantial part to play in multidisciplinary care against pandemics

The importance of rigour in the reporting of evidence for osteopathic care in Covid-19 papers

“…The aim of this letter is to question overstatements in Marin et al's article 1 about Covid-19 focusing on three avoidable scientific errors: false similarities and misinterpretations, cherry picking information in narrative reviews, and lack of methodological rigour.…”

“…Evidence informed practice relies on knowledge mobilisation and highlights the importance of a bidirectional dialogue between clinicians and researchers. Therefore, Marin et al’s article 1 deserves merit for attempting to explore the literature for potential mechanisms supporting the potential usefulness of manual care for Covid-19 patients.…”

“… 2 While social media has been the main source of concern regarding misinformation about Covid-19, now more than ever researchers, scientists, peer-reviewers and journal editors need to ensure the highest standards of conducting, reporting and disseminating information regarding Covid-19. 3 Marin et al's narrative review 1 contains many scientific errors and overinterpretation. Many claims are not supported by evidence and there are many misrepresentations and overstatements.…”

“…However, a scoping review which addresses an exploratory research question to map key concepts and gaps in research would have been a more suitable design for an evidence review. The strengths of scoping review compared to narrative reviews is that they systematically search, select, assess quality of and synthesise existing knowledge, 10 and may have avoided some erroneous claims and inaccurate inferences made by Marin et al 1 …”

The importance of epistemological consideration in the reporting of evidence for osteopathic care in Covid-19 papers

“…This factual situation can explain a tendency of mistrust from scientists and medical practitioners, and emphasizes necessary caution for osteopathic communication. It is within this context of reservation that we published a review entitled “Evidence-based assessment of potential therapeutic effects of adjunct osteopathic medicine for multidisciplinary care of acute and convalescent COVID-19 patients” 1 . On completion of this review, the available evidence led us to limit our conclusions to the two very careful following statements: i) there are multiple arguments supporting potential therapeutic benefits from adjunct osteopathic care, and ii) “more clinical evidence - through rigorous controlled trials - is necessary, especially regarding a new and highly-infectious disease such as COVID-19” 1 .…”