Are certain types of Osteopathic techniques more prone to injury for the practitioner than others?
Sanjeev Ram Supervisor: Dawn Limbert
Abstract
Objectives
To assess whether certain Osteopathic
techniques could be a pre-disposing factor for injury to the Osteopath.
Design
A
web based self-administered questionnaire.
Subjects
The questionnaires were
sent out to 661 valid e-mail addresses of Osteopaths registered in the UK
and Ireland.
Inclusion
criteria: Members of the GOsC register and a valid e-mail address.
Exclusion
criteria: Osteopaths without e-mail addresses or partially completed
questionnaires.
Intervention
An adapted pre-existing questionnaire designed and used for research by
Thielsch (2004) was used as the basis for an online questionnaire.
Outcome measures
Self reported occupational musculoskeletal injuries.
Results
A total of 28.9%
responded (n=191) of which 54.45% (n=104) were injured due to their practice
of osteopathy. Frequency of
technique usage was not found to be a statistically important factor for
injury predisposition. Most
osteopaths attributed their injuries to high velocity thrust (HVT) as 64.56%
(n=51, P=0.0078), which occurred in the first two years of practice due to
poor proficiency. The most
important factors affecting injury avoidance were correct posture 89.01%
(n=170), an adjustable bench 89.01% (n=170), a larger range of techniques
75.92% (n=145) and flexibility exercises 40.31%
(n=77).
Conclusion