The AAO Journal, 2024/06, 34(2):33. doi: 10.53702/i2375-5717-34.2.16, type of study: ,rct,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Full text    (https://meridian.allenpress.com/aaoj/article/34/2/16/500954/LBORC-NUFA-Poster-Abstracts-2024-Students)

Keywords:

medical students [659]
OMT [3770]
osteopathic manipulative treatment [3790]
osteopathic medicine [2055]
pilot study [196]
randomized controlled trial [896]
stress [111]
USA [1709]

Abstract:

Introduction/Background: Recognizing that first-year osteopathic medical students often face high stress rates and burnout, primarily due to their demanding curriculum, our team conducted an IRB-approved study where we hypothesize that regular, weekly sessions of OMT can lead to a reduction in cortisol levels. Objectives: Explore if regular osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMT) can reduce stress in first-year osteopathic medical students. Methods: Our study involved 2 randomized groups of students: one received no treatment (control), and the other received OMT treatment with techniques geared to modulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in order to affect cortisol level changes. In order to measure stress, we collected weekly salivary cortisol samples at the same time in the afternoon each session and used changes in optical density (OD) as measured via ELISA. Data analysis from the cortisol immunoassay revealed a significant decrease in weekly cortisol levels in the treatment group, with an average weekly OD change of 0.0215, c(SD=.0243), compared to -0.0044 (SD=.0061) in the control group. We used a twotailed, unpaired t-test and a U test for statistical analysis. The t-test showed a p-value of 0.0497, and the U test showed a p-value of 0.0317, both indicating a significant decrease in cortisol levels in the treatment group. Conclusion: Our results suggest that targeted OMT can impact cortisol levels, and we encourage medical students to utilize OMT for stress management. We acknowledge the limitations of utilizing single measurements of cortisol, albeit with controlling time of collection. This is a pilot study aimed at establishing the plausibility of whether stress biomarkers can be affected by sympathetic regulation via OMT.