A Study of the Effectiveness and the Economic Feasibility of Bone-Setting, 1994-1995
Investigator: Heikki Hemmila

A Study of the Effectiveness and the Economic Feasibility of Bone-Setting was conducted between 1994 and 1995 at the Folk Medicine Center in Kaustinen, Finland. The study was conducted to determine whether bone-setting (a form of traditional Finnish folk healing) or light exercise therapy could ease back pain and improve function better than ordinary physiotherapy. The study was a randomized, single-blind, clinical trial that lasted 6 weeks and included follow-ups at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. 114 working-age people with prolonged back pain were randomly assigned to receive therapy involving bone-setting, a light exercise regimen, or physiotherapy. Patients received up to ten 1-hour treatment sessions during the 6 week treatment period. Patients were evaluated at the start of the study, at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The main outcomes include several measures of spinal mobility, muscular performance, and back pain. Secondary outcome measures include Oswestry disability scores, number of sick-leaves, number of visits to health centers, other types of therapy received for back pain, health care costs, and quality of life. The dataset contains 171 variables collected from 114 patients.