Effectiveness of microkinesitherapy session on psychological well-being among community-dwelling adults – a pilot study

Background
New therapeutic methods are being proposed for community management of the aging process toward "healthy aging". An example of a holistic approach to the patient could be microkinesitherapy.

Aims
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of microkinesitherapy treatment in community-dwelling adults.

Material and methods
The research included 24 individuals aged 52 to 95 years, who underwent a single therapy session. This study implemented a single-group pre-post study design with a 1-month follow-up. Assessment of mental health using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and General Health Questionnaire – 28 (GHQ-28) was the primary outcome.

Results
The analysis of the data showed a significant improvement regarding mental health, specifically in the domain of physical function of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, with a score increase of 5 points. The GHQ-28 questionnaire exhibited statistically significant improvements in all domains, indicating a reduction in psychopathology disorders after the intervention. Before the intervention, 45.83% of the participants had psychopathology disorders, while after the 1-month follow-up, only 16.67% of them had such disorders.

Conclusions
This study on microkinesitherapy in community-dwelling adults demonstrated potential benefits in mental health, particularly in the physical function domain of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and all domains of the GHQ-28 questionnaire, indicating a decrease in psychopathology disorders. However, it's important to note limitations, including the single-group pre-post design without a control group, a small participant number, and a lack of specific medical indications or ICD diagnoses. Additionally, no comparison was made with standard physiotherapy methods, which limits the ability to generalize the findings or apply them in broader clinical contexts. Therefore, the current strength and level of evidence supporting microkinesitherapy are considered limited, indicating a need for more extensive research to validate its efficacy as a clinically recommended treatment.