Fernández Seguín, Lourdes MaríaPeinado-Asensio, ManuelDíaz Mancha, Juan AntonioCortés Vega, María DoloresHeredia Rizo, Alberto Marcos2023-06-302023-06-302023https://hdl.handle.net/11441/147603Objective: The present study aimed to assess the immediate and short-term effect of cervical spinal manipulation (SM), compared with placebo, on the magnitude of near and distance exophoria, in adults with asymptomatic exophoria. Methods: In this single-blinded randomized controlled trial, individuals with a clinical diagnosis of horizontal exophoria, as confirmed with the prism alternating cover test (PACT), were allocated to a single intervention session using a high-velocity low-amplitude cervical SM technique or sham placebo (manual contact under the head). The study outcome was the magnitude of horizontal heterophoria, as a measure of binocular vision efficiency, at near (40 cm) or distance (4 meters) fixation, using the PACT. Evaluations were made at baseline, immediately after intervention, and at a 1-week follow-up. Results: From May to September 2021, forty-four volunteers (23 females), with a mean age of 35 (9.5) years, were recruited and equally distributed into the study groups. All participants completed follow-up assessments, and no adverse events were reported. There was a significant time*group interaction for exophoria at near vision but not at distance fixation. The SM group showed a significant decrease of near exophoria, compared to the control group, at the 1-week follow-up (mean difference -1.09 prism diopters, 95% CI, -0.20 to -1.98 prism diopters). Conclusion: The use of cervical SM therapy resulted in a significant reduction of the magnitude of horizontal exophoria at near vision (medium effect size), compared with placebo, in asymptomatic young adults. However, these effects were not observed at distance fixation and should be considered with caution due to the pre-post design with a single intervention session and the short-term follow-up. Impact: The present findings suggest short-term benefits of SM therapy to manage undiagnosed ocular convergence disorders, although changes were not clinically relevant.application/pdfengAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ExophoriaBinocular visionSpinal manipulationVision screeninginfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzad069