A
study to investigate the perceptions and understanding of osteopathy as a
treatment amongst the running community
Lisa Wild
Supervisor: Robin Kirk
Abstract
The
purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of perceptions and
awareness of osteopathy amongst the running community in the United Kingdom
(UK). It seeks to determine the baseline level of knowledge the running
community has towards osteopathy as a profession. It then seeks to identify
which manual therapy discipline is the preferred choice of treatment amongst
runners and to see what their treatment of choice has previously been if
any. Finally it aims to determine if the osteopathic profession has been
successful in promoting osteopathy as a system of health care for a wide
variety of complaints to such a group as the UK running community.
The
experience of the author, a regular member of a running club and competitor
of numerous running events throughout the UK is that the baseline knowledge
of osteopathy amongst runners is generally poor and that it does not appear
to be the treatment of choice for individuals who have previously received
physical therapies.
A
questionnaire was designed and sent to a number of running clubs throughout
the UK and distributed at a running club stand at the Great North Run event
hosted in Newcastle upon Tyne. It
was designed to target a wide-ranging cross-section of the running community
namely gender, age and location within the UK (see appendix 1).
It was sent to the secretary of twenty running clubs listed with the
UK Athletics Association (UK A. A.) via email. It was stipulated that where
possible it should be distributed amongst ten of their members for
completion. A total of
200 questionnaires were sent out via email. It was also distributed at the
Great North Run event. There were 132 returns. However, seven were returned
having been incorrectly completed, three of which had not been saved before
being returned by email. This left 125 questionnaires available for
analysis.