Vojta therapy and neurodevelopmental treatment in children with infantile postural asymmetry: a randomised controlled trial.
Michael Wilhelm Jung, Margarete Landenberger, Tatjana Jung and 2 others
PMID 28265162WHAT IT FOUND
Vojta therapy reduced infant postural asymmetry more than NDT over eight weeks.
Both groups improved; Vojta had a 2.96-point greater reduction on a 24-point scale.
Key findings
01Vojta therapy reduced postural asymmetry more than NDT, with a mean between-group difference of 2.96 points.
02Asymmetry scores fell from 18.47 to 10.72 in the Vojta group and from 18.35 to 13.56 in the NDT group.
03Thirty-four of 37 parents reported similar or less frequent infant crying after treatment, and three reported more frequent crying.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The trial had no placebo or untreated group, so it cannot show that Vojta or NDT worked better than natural course. Therapists and parents knew the assigned treatment; only the video scorers were blinded. Both groups received a package of centre sessions and parent home treatment, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The study was single-centre and small, with 37 infants analysed. The follow-up period was eight weeks, and the authors state they cannot prove the natural course would not have achieved the same effect. Parents did less home therapy than recommended, so the results reflect the actual dose delivered rather than the prescribed protocol.
Declared interests
Partially funded by Physio Germany, the German Association of Physical Therapy.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Vojta therapy is proven superior to no treatment or to all other torticollis approaches. The trial compared Vojta therapy and NDT as complete packages, included no placebo or untreated group, and the authors state they cannot prove the natural course would not have produced similar improvement.