Identification of stable somatic findings in hypertensive subjects by trained examiners using palpatory examination
Johnston, W.L.; Hill, J.L.; Elkiss, M.L.; Marino, R.V.
Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 81(12): 830-836
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-6151 PMID: 6897066 Document Number: 193374
Examination of the somatic system by trained examiners identified palpable findings of asymmetric resistance to motion that are persistent throughout repeated examining procedures. These findings are interpreted to reflect patterns of somatic dysfunction that are stable in time and related to the presence of systemic disease. In this study agreement on findings of 3 independent, trained examiners during 3 consecutive examinations of the spinal region C5-T7 was used as the criterion for persistence of palpatory cues. Distribution of agreements on presence of stable findings in the examination of 307 volunteer normotensive and hypertensive subjects is bimodal, with the values in the lower range of agreement fitting closely to the frequency predicted by a random model. There are 48 hypertensives (22.2%) within this lower range, which included 216 subjects; 91 subjects were in the upper range that included 48 hypertensive (52.7%). Distribution of frequency of agreements for the normotensive subjects was not bimodal. A stable pattern of findings of somatic dysfunction in a significant number of hypertensive patients indicates a relationship between the hypertensive condition and a reproducible somatic component.