CRANIOSACRAL RHYTHM - RELIABILITY AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH CARDIAC AND RESPIRATORY RATES

Craniosacral rhythm (CSR) has long been the subject of debate, both ov er its existence and its use as a therapeutic tool in evaluation and t reatment. Origins of this rhythm are unknown, and palpatory findings l ack scientific support. The purpose of this study was to determine the intra-and inter-examiner reliabilities of the palpation of the rate o f the CSR and the relationships between the rate of the CSR and the he art or respiratory rates of subjects and examiners. The rates of the C SR of 40 healthy adults were palpated twice by each of two examiners. The heart and respiratory rates of the examiners and the subjects were recorded while the rates of the subjects' CSR were palpated by the ex aminers. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to determ ine the intra-and inter-examiner reliabilities of the palpation. Two m ultiple regression analyses, one for each examiner, were conducted to analyze the relationships between the rate of the CSR and the heart an d respiratory rates of the subjects and the examiners. The intraexamin er reliability coefficients were 0.78 for examiner A and 0.83 for exam iner B, and the interexaminer reliability coefficient was 0.22. The re sult of the multiple regression analysis for examiner A was R = 0.46 a nd adjusted R-2 = 0.12 (p = 0.078) and for examiner B was R = 0.63 and adjusted R-2 = 0.32 (p = 0.001). The highest bivariate correlation wa s found between the CSR and the subject's heart rate (r = 0.30) for ex aminer A and between the CSR and the examiner's heart rate (r = 0.42) for examiner B. The results indicated that a single examiner may be ab le to palpate the rate of the CSR consistently, ii that is what we tru ly measured. it is possible that the perception of CSR is illusory. Th e rate of the CSR palpated by two examiners is not consistent The resu lts of the regression analysis of one examiner offered no validation t o those of the other. II appears that a subject's CSR is not related t o the heart or respiratory rates of the subject or the examiner.