title: The sustainable training, treatment, employment program model: effects of manual therapy on musculoskeletal pain and limitation in a Filipino squatter community.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to describe the musculoskeletal conditions and associated pain and limitation and the effects of massage treatment in a Filipino squatter community.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted at the Hands On Philippines Education (HOPE) clinic in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan, Philippines. Baseline data were collected before the first treatment, and follow-up data were collected immediately after the second treatment. Treatment was delivered by massage students who were trained in massage by a chiropractic program faculty member through the Project HOPE charitable community-based initiative. A prospective pretest-posttest observational research design was used. The sample consisted of 290 subjects aged 16 years and older visiting the Project HOPE clinic. One hundred ninety-two subjects completed the follow-up surveys. The outcome measures were sites of pain, self-reported levels of pain, and limitation to activities of daily living at baseline and after the second massage therapy treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three self-reported anatomical locations were identified by each subject. The most frequently reported painful sites over the last 7 days among the 166 respondents were the upper back (36.7%), lower back (18.7%), and shoulders (16.3%). The pre-post treatment analyses of pain and disability was restricted to 66 participants who provided completed outcome measures. After 2 massage therapy treatments, all pain and limitation scores decreased. A comparison of mean self-reported levels of pain and disability at baseline and immediately after the second consultation showed statistically significant decreases of pain (t65 = 16.97, P < .001) and disability (t65 = 12.4, P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that participants who visited the Filipino squatter community clinic experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions located primarily within the axial skeleton, and that, in the short term, massage therapy delivered on-site by trained therapists was helpful in reducing self-reported levels of pain and limitation to activities of daily living.
authors.affiliation: RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. dein@optusnet.com.au
authors.forename: Dein
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vindigni
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Polus
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Rotterdam
authors.forename: Cliff
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Gay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Edgecombe
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: Tuesday
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bromwell
authors.forename: Alma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biasbas
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods*; D026201:Musculoskeletal Manipulations / Q000379:methods; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010679:Philippines; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D016896:Treatment Outcome