A systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of manipulative therapy in women with primary dysmenorrhea

Objective To assess the robustness of evidence for the efficacy of manipulative therapy in women with primary dysmenorrhea. Method Seven electronic databases were searched for studies reporting data on manipulative therapy for women with primary dysmenorrhea. The primary and secondary outcomes were pain relief and quality of life, respectively. Quality of eligible studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) guideline. Results The search yielded 19 citations of which four were systematically reviewed and three eligible for meta-analysis. The systematic review showed above moderate methodological quality with a mean of 6.7 out of 10 on the PEDro quality scale. Manipulative therapy showed evidence of pain reduction in primary dysmenorrhea. Conclusion Manipulative therapy could be considered as adjunct therapy in the relief of pain in primary dysmenorrhea. More high-quality research is needed before the evidence for their utilization can be ascertained. Particularly, items related to assessor blinding should be considered in future studies.