Editorial
The Certainty Ceiling: Why Methodological Excellence Does Not Always Lead to High-Quality Evidence
Journal of integrative and complementary medicine, Vol.32(1), pp.1-3
01/2026
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Abstract
“Get active!” Rarely can medical guidelines be summarized so clearly in two words. And while this summary is, of course, also a significant simplification for guidelines on chronic nonspecific low back pain, it more or less captures the spirit of many treatment—or rather non-treatment—recommendations for this patient group.1,2 Patients should not undergo surgery or even imaging examinations in the absence of red flags, and painkillers should only be used for a short period of time. Even treatments such as manual therapy or acupuncture as sole therapies are generally discouraged, even though they are, of course, valuable components of multimodal therapy. The concern is that on their own, they would create a passive attitude and discourage patients from becoming active.
Details
- Title
- The Certainty Ceiling: Why Methodological Excellence Does Not Always Lead to High-Quality Evidence
- Creators
- Holger Cramer - University Hospital Tübingen (Tübingen, Germany)Dennis Anheyer - University Hospital Tübingen (Tübingen, Germany)Lisa Susan Wieland - University Hospital Tübingen (Tübingen, Germany)
- Publication Details
- Journal of integrative and complementary medicine, Vol.32(1), pp.1-3
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
- Number of pages
- 3
- Grant note
- Parts of this work were supported by the Software AG Foundation, Darmstadt, Germany (grant number P 15938).
- Identifiers
- 991013345423902368
- Copyright
- © 2026, Sage Publications.
- Academic Unit
- National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Editorial