Effect of Attentional Touch in Stabilometric Assessments

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Postural balance has been studied in the literature and ideal body mass distribution has been shown to provide stability to the body in an upright position. The use of stabilometry to assess posture is a standard in clinical practice and medical research. In the literature we find osteopathic treatment evaluated with stabilometry in specific pathological conditions. We will experiment on asymptomatic volunteers how attentive touch is effective compared to non-attentive touch and compared to an untreated group by measuring specific parameters that indicate postural balance.

Detailed Description
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Stabilometry measurements will be taken on asymptomatic volunteers before and after several specific treatments, in particular to measure whether the variance in sway speed is reduced after the treatments. The effect of attentional versus non-attentional touch will be compared in the other two groups, in addition to a control group that receives no treatment.

Official Title
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Low Term Effect of Attentional Touch on Sway Rate Variation of CoP in Asymptomatic Subjects: a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Conditions
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Postural Balance

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: TOUCH ATTENTIVE TREATMENT
* Other: AUDITORY ATTENTIVE TREATMENT


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: • aymptomatics Exclusion Criteria: serious illnesses balance disorders recent trauma (within 2 years) to the lower limbs

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: TOUCH ATTENTIVE TREATMENT<br>15 minutes of osteopathic treatment with operator's touch attention | Other: TOUCH ATTENTIVE TREATMENT<br>* 15-minute treatment using constant touch (0.20 N, approx. 20 grams) developed after training with visual feedback. 5 minutes bilateral touch on external malleolus 5 minutes longitudinal occipital front grip for reciprocal tension membrane movement and Sutherland's fulcrum 5 minutes bilateral touch on acromion, for midline, centring diaphragms Throughout the treatment, the practitioner maintained a focused attention on touch by voluntarily and constantly directing attention to the sensation/perception of the hands, perceiving texture, density, temperature, reactivity and motility of the tissue.<br>|
| Sham Comparator: AUDITORY ATTENTIVE TREATMENT<br>15 minutes of osteopathic treatment with operator's auditory attention | Other: AUDITORY ATTENTIVE TREATMENT<br>* 15-minute treatment using constant touch (0.20 N, approx. 20 grams) developed after training with visual feedback. 5 minutes bilateral touch on external malleolus 5 minutes longitudinal occipital front grip for reciprocal tension membrane movement and Sutherland's fulcrum 5 minutes bilateral touch on acromion, for midline, centring diaphragms During the treatment, the operator's attention was focused on acoustic signals delivered through earphones. The beeps were delivered at random intervals between 0.5 and 2.0 seconds. The operator had to count the number of acoustic signals produced during the treatment period.<br>|
| No Intervention: CONTROL<br>The volunteers lay for 15 minutes in the same environment as the volunteers in the other two groups, without being touched in any way. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the velocity variation of the displacement of the centre of pressure (CoP). | The variable is measured with a stabilometric scale (Cyber Sabots) by sampling the signal at 40 Hz. | baseline | 
| the velocity variation of the displacement of the centre of pressure (CoP). | The variable is measured with a stabilometric scale (Cyber Sabots) by sampling the signal at 40 Hz. | 30 minutes |