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Unravelling Functional Neurology: an overview of all published documents by FR Carrick, including a critical review of research articles on its effect or benefit.

ABSTRACT: Background:Functional Neurology (FN), founded by FR Carrick, is an approach used by some chiropractors to treat a multitude of conditions via the nervous system including the brain. However, it seems to lack easily obtainable scientific evidence for its clinical validity. Objectives:1) To define the topics of FR Carrick's publications, 2) to define the proportion of articles that are research studies, case studies, abstracts and conference papers, 3) to define how many of these are clinical research studies that purported or appeared to deal with the effect or benefit of FN, 4) in these studies, to establish whether the design and overall study method were suitable for research into the effect or benefit of FN, and 5) to describe the evidence available in relation to the clinical effect or benefit of FN, taking into account seven minimal methodological criteria. Method:A literature search was done on Pubmed from its inception till October 2018, supplemented by a search on Scopus and ResearchGate to find all published documents by FR Carrick. We identified their types and topics, retaining for a critical review full text scientific articles appearing to test effect/benefit of FN procedures, subjecting them to a basic quality assessment (scoring 0-7). Results from studies of methodologically acceptable standard would be taken into account. Results:We found 121 published texts, 39 of which were full scientific research articles. Of these, 23 dealt with topics relating to FN. Fourteen articles reported on clinical validity but only seven included a control group. The methodological quality of these seven articles was low, ranging between 1.5-4 out of 7. We therefore did not further report the outcomes of these studies. Conclusion:We found no acceptable evidence in favour of effect/benefit of the FN approach. We therefore do not recommend its promotion as an evidence-based method. Further research on this topic should be conducted in collaboration with independent scientific institutions using commonly accepted research methods. Trial registration:PROSPERO This review was registered in PROSPERO (application date 23.02.2019; no CRD42019126345).

SUBMITTER: Demortier M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6986008 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Unravelling Functional Neurology: an overview of all published documents by FR Carrick, including a critical review of research articles on its effect or benefit.

Demortier Marine M Leboeuf-Yde Charlotte C

Chiropractic & manual therapies 20200128 1

<h4>Background</h4>Functional Neurology (FN), founded by FR Carrick, is an approach used by some chiropractors to treat a multitude of conditions via the nervous system including the brain. However, it seems to lack easily obtainable scientific evidence for its clinical validity.<h4>Objectives</h4>1) To define the topics of FR Carrick's publications, 2) to define the proportion of articles that are research studies, case studies, abstracts and conference papers, 3) to define how many of these ar ...[more]

PMID: 32002178

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Project description:Background:A recent hypothesis purports that spinal manipulation may cause changes at a brain level. Functional Neurology, a mainly chiropractic approach, promotes the use of spinal manipulation to improve 'brain function' as if it were a proven construct. No systematic review has been performed to investigate how well founded this hypothesis is. Objective:To investigate whether spinal manipulation has an effect on 'brain function' that is associated with any clinical benefits. Method:In this systematic review, the literature was searched in PubMed, Embase, and PEDro (final search February 2018). We included randomized or non-randomized controlled studies, in which spinal manipulation was performed to any region of the spine, applied on either symptomatic or asymptomatic humans, and compared to a sham or to another type of control. The outcome measures had to be stated as direct or proxy markers of 'brain function'. Articles were reviewed blindly by at least two reviewers, using a quality checklist designed for the specific needs of the review. Studies were classified as of 'acceptable', 'medium', or 'low' methodological quality. Results were reported in relation to (i) control intervention (sham, 'inactive control', or 'another physical stimulus') and (ii) study subjects (healthy, symptomatic, or with spinal pain" subjects/spinal pain"), taking into account the quality. Only results obtained from between-group or between-intervention comparisons were considered in the final analysis. Results:Eighteen of 1514 articles were included. Studies were generally of 'low' or 'medium' methodological quality, most comparing spinal manipulation to a control other than a sham. Thirteen out of the 18 studies could be included in the final analysis. Transitory effects of different types of 'brain function' were reported in the three studies comparing spinal manipulation to sham (but of uncertain credibility), in "subclinical neck/spinal pain" subjects or in symptomatic subjects. None of these three studies, of 'medium' or 'acceptable' quality, investigated whether the neurophysiological effects reported were associated with clinical benefits. The remaining 10 studies, generally of 'low' or 'medium' quality, compared spinal manipulation to 'inactive control' or 'another physical stimulus' and similarly reported significant between-group differences but inconsistently. Conclusion:The available evidence suggests that changes occur in 'brain function' in response to spinal manipulation but are inconsistent across and - sometimes - within studies. The clinical relevance of these changes is unknown. It is therefore premature to promote the use of spinal manipulation as a treatment to improve 'brain function'.

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Unravelling Functional Neurology: an overview of all published documents by FR Carrick, including a critical review of research articles on its effect or benefit.

Publications

Unravelling Functional Neurology: an overview of all published documents by FR Carrick, including a critical review of research articles on its effect or benefit.

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