Math 1030 OER

Magnets and Pain Relief Statistical Project

Is it possible that magnetic fields can reduce pain? A fascinating study by Dr. Carlos Vallbona
suggests it is.

Background

Magnetic fields have been shown to have an effect on living tissue as early as the 1930's. Plants
have been shown to have an improved growth rate when raised in a magnetic field (Mericle et al.,
1964). More recently, doctors and physical therapists have used either static or fluctuating
magnetic fields to aid in pain management, most commonly for broken bones. In the case study
presented here, Carlos Vallbona and his colleagues sought to answer the question "Can the
chronic pain experienced by postpolio patients be relieved by magnetic fields applied directly
over an identified pain trigger point?"

Mericle, R. P. et al. "Plant Growth Responses" in: Biological effects of magnetic fields. New
York: Plenium Press 1964. pp 183-195.

Vallbona, Carlos et. al., "Response of pain to static Magnetic fields in postpolio patients, a double
blind Pilot study" Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Nov. 1997, Vol 78,
American congress of rehabilitation medicine, pp 1200-1203.

Experimental Design
Summary

Fifty patients experiencing post-polio pain syndrome were recruited from the postpolio clinic of a
large rehabilitation hospital. Some of the patients were treated with an active magnetic device and
the rest were treated with an inactive device. All patients rated their pain before and after
application of the device

Details

The experimenters recruited patients who not only had post-polio syndrome but also reported
muscular or arthritic pain. These patients had significant pain for at least 4 weeks and had not
taken any painkillers or anti-inflammatories for at least 3 hours before the study. The subjects all
had a trigger point or painful region and had a body weight of less than 140% of the predicted
weight for their age and height, and had a trigger point or circumscribed painful area.

Seventy active static magnets and seventy identical inactive devices used as placebos were
supplied by BIOflex Medical Magnets in Canada. Each magnet or placebo was placed in
number coded envelopes and delivered according to its shape. This was a double-blind study so
the code for placebos and magnets was not broken until the end of the study.

One site of reported pain was evaluated and a trigger point for this pain was found by palpitation.
The patient was asked to subjectively grade pain at the trigger point under palpitation on a scale
from 0 to 10 0 representing no pain, increasing to a maximum pain of 10.
 The data for the posttest are compared as followed:

Active Magnet: mean = 4.41 . Placebo: mean = 8.43 .

range = 10 . range = 6 .

0.35
0.30
relative frequency

0.25
0.20
0.15 active
0.10 placebo 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.05
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ,10
Reported Pain

The mean of the active magnets is 48% less than the mean of the placebos, and the range of the
active magnets is 67% greater than placebos range. The histogram of the placebos is very
skewed showing a lot of pain is still reported, while the histogram of the active magnets is more
uniform. More than three-fourths of the active magnet scores are less than three-fourths of the
placebos pain scores.
Write a one-page response (250 - 350 words) reflecting how these statistics either support, refute,
or are irrelevant to the claim that magnets can help relieve some types of pain. Discuss the limits
for which the data can be used and why you think this is, or is not, a good study. What are three
benefits of utilizing the statistical tools demonstrated in this project in your current job or future
career?

Response:

I believe that some of those statistics used in this project support the claim that magnets can help
to relieve some types of pain. However, the study is based on the patients answers, feelings and
their own view of rating the level of the pain. It can lie into less relevant outcomes. I think that it
is because some people can get confused and just pick up a number. Thus, the study can fall into
response bias Also as I said before, pain levels are different depending on every individual. Some
people can be more sensitive than others. This is a complicated claim that need to be examined
and studied very careful and wisely. I dont this this was the best study at all. Maybe if the
researchers uses a bigger amount of patients or use a machine to measure the pain levels would
make the study more relevant and valid.

Three benefits of utilizing the statistical tools demonstrated in this project for my future career
are:
1. I will be able to use those tool in my experiment and observational studies in Psychology.
2. I will be able to compare and contrast outcomes by using histograms, bar graph, box plot,
etc.
3. The mean and the range will help me to define the statistics for my futures scientific
experiments. In Psychology, we do a lot researches, studies, observations and more.
4. Using all the tool together will benefit to state distribution variance about the outcomes
5. I will be able to compare by using percentages which make the studies more
understandable.