Usual light touch osteopathic treatment versus simple light touch without intent in the reduction of infantile colic crying time: A randomised controlled trial
Background
Many parents seek osteopathic care for their infants with colic. Our aim was to test the effectiveness of usual light touch osteopathic treatment on crying time for infants with ‘colic’.
Methods
A superiority, two arm, single blinded (parent) multi-centre (UK, Australia and Switzerland), randomised controlled trial, included healthy infants between 1 and 69 days of age who excessively cried, fussed, or were distressed and difficult to console. The Test intervention consisted of usual light touch osteopathic treatment, the Control intervention simple light touch to random body locations with no treatment intent. Both groups received best practice advice and guidance. The primary outcome was the daily crying time, reported hourly by parents in a diary, for two-weeks. Secondary outcomes were parenting confidence, global change, satisfaction, and experience of care.