Manual Therapy Force Perception Scale

Development and Pre-testing of a Manual Therapy Force Perception Scale

The objective of this observational study is to pilot a scale designed to assist clinicians in evaluating the force they perceive during manual therapy.

The main question it aims to answer is:

- Are clinicians able to evaluate the force they use when delivering manual therapies to their patients using a scale?

For the pilot test, licensed chiropractors administer manual therapies on a manikin.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Manual Therapy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Manual therapy

Detailed Description

The aim of this observational study is to pilot test an ordinal scale (the Manual Therapy Force Perception [MTFP] scale) intended to enable clinicians to assign ordinal rankings to their patients based on their perception of the force they applied during manual therapy . This involved evaluating the agreement between the force applied by clinicians during spinal manipulations and mobilizations delivered on a manikin and their subjective perception of force, as determined using the MTFP scale. Additionally, the pilot study aimed to seek feedback on the MTFP scale from clinicians who are its potential users.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 10

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, G8Z 4M3
      • Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Licensed chiropractors

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Licensed chiropractors with a private practice within the province of Quebec, Canada.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having a condition that prevents the execution of approximately 50 manual therapies over a 1-hour period.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Participants; Chiropractors will administer manual therapies on a manikin utilizing three distinct levels of force (typical force, low force, high force), determined by the trial label on the scale. A sensor will gauge the magnitude of force applied.	Other: Manual therapy; A manual force will be applied to a manikin positioned on a chiropractic treatment table. The force exerted during the manual therapy must align with the trial label indicated on the Manual Therapy Force Perception [MTFP] scale.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Peak force measured by a force sensor during the manual therapy	The therapy will be delivered on a force sensor (Loadpad(R)) which will measured the force applied. The peak force reached during the therapy will be extracted.	During the manual therapy

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Isabelle Pagé, DC, PhD, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 24, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 28, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Spinal manipulation; Chiropractic; Spinal mobilization; force sensor
• Other Study ID Numbers: UQTR_IP_EchelleTM_2024

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No