Abstract
In a randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, longitudinal, clinical trial we investigated the analgesic effect of static field magneto therapy on pain perception and sleep quality in 48 patients with osteoarticular pain syndrome (35% with osteoporosis). The evaluation of pain perception and sleep quality was assessed at baseline, 2 and 4 months. Twenty-four patients were randomized to the active arm (textile supports with magnets) and 24 patients to the control arm (textile supports without magnets). During the study period, pain perception (visual rating scale) reduced in the active arm (baseline: median 55; 2 months: 40; 4 months: 35, P<0.001) whereas it remained unchanged in the control arm (baseline: 58; 2 months: 58; 4 months: 60). Similarly, pain perception (verbal rating scale) decreased in the active group (baseline: 3; 2 months: 2; 4 months: 2, P<0.001) while it remained stable in the control group (baseline: 3; 2 months: 3; 4 months: 3). The analysis of sleep quality data provided similar results. No side effects were observed during the study. The use of textile supports incorporating static field’s magnets is associated with a significant reduction in the pain perception and with an improvement of sleep quality in patients with osteoarticular pain syndrome.
Highlights
Osteoarticular diseases are the most common and disabling chronic condition in the general population and the pain associated with these complications negatively impacts upon the quality of life, in the elderly [1]
We compared the analgesic effect of static field magnets on pain perception between men and women as well as on sleep quality and we found that such a beneficial effect did not differ between males and females indicating that the use of static field magnets is effective between genders
Between groups comparison at 4 months showed that the score of the pain perception reduced by 19 points (∆ =-19 points, 95% CI: from -16 to - 12 points, P< 0.001) according to visual scale and by 1.3 points according to the verbal scale (∆= - 1.3 points, 95% CI: from -1.8 to - 0.8 points, P
Summary
Osteoarticular diseases are the most common and disabling chronic condition in the general population and the pain associated with these complications negatively impacts upon the quality of life, in the elderly [1]. In a systematic review published in 2005 and focused on the effect of magnetic therapy on pain perception in patients with osteoarticular pain of various origin, 13 studies out of 21 (i.e. 62%) reported an analgesic effect of stable magnetic fields [2]. To date the analgesic effect of stable magnetic fields in osteoarticular diseases remains matter of debate With this background in mind, we designed a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind, longitudinal, clinical trial examining the additional effect, beyond and above that provided by traditional drugs treatment, of textile supports with stable field magnets on pain perception (primary endpoint) and sleep quality (secondary end point) in a cohort of patients with osteoarticular pain prospectively followed at the Orthopedics Unit of the “Bianchi - Melacrino-Morelli” Hospital of Reggio Calabria, Italy. All patients who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria were consecutively enrolled in the out patients clinic of the same Orthopedics Unit between May and June 2013
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