Musculoskeletal rehabilitation in controlled trials: Is it correct to compare different types of exercise?

TL;DR

This paper argues that comparing different types of exercise in musculoskeletal rehabilitation is only valid if physical effort and exercise parameters are controlled.

Contribution

Highlights the lack of controlled variables in RCTs comparing exercises and emphasizes the need for standardized parameters.

Findings

RCTs often fail to control for physical effort and exercise parameters when comparing different exercises.

Proper comparison requires equal intensity, duration, and total physical effort across groups.

Controlled trials with standardized parameters are currently lacking in musculoskeletal rehabilitation research.

Abstract

There are several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature on musculoskeletal rehabilitation that compare different types of exercise; however, the comparison is not relevant because the groups generally perform different physical efforts, and the researchers are not aware of this, nor do they control for the confounding variables.

To discuss the methods of comparison of different types of exercises in musculoskeletal rehabilitation.

Short communication developed at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos (SP), Brazil.

A narrative review of the motion cadence, time-under-tension, actual duration of an exercise session, and total physical effort was conducted.

To compare the different types of exercise, it is crucial that the parameters of the proposed exercises are the same between the groups, i.e., the exercise intensity, total physical effort, and actual duration of the exercise session.

It is correct to compare different types of exercise, however, in the field of musculoskeletal rehabilitation, RCTs adequately controlled for these variables are lacking.

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