Attitudes, skills and use of evidence-based practice among UK osteopaths: a national cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundEvidence-based practice (EBP) is a clinical decision-making framework that supports quality improvement in healthcare. While osteopaths are key providers of musculoskeletal healthcare, the extent to which osteopaths engage in EBP is unclear. Thus, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate UK osteopaths’ attitudes, skills and use of EBP, and perceived barriers and facilitators of EBP uptake.MethodsUK-registered osteopaths were invited to complete the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude and Utilisation Survey (EBASE) online.ResultsOf the 5200 registered osteopaths in the UK, 9.9% (517/5200) responded to the invitation, and 7.2% (375/5200) completed the EBASE (< 20% incomplete answers). The demographic characteristics of the survey sample were largely similar to those of the UK osteopathy workforce. The osteopaths reported overall positive attitudes towards EBP, with most agreeing that EBP improves the quality of patient care (69.3%) and is necessary for osteopathy practice (76.5%). The majority reported moderate-level skills in EBP, and most (80.8%) were interested in improving these skills. Participating osteopaths typically engaged in EBP activities 1–5 times over the last month. Barriers to EBP uptake included a lack of time and clinical evidence in osteopathy. Main facilitators of EBP included having access to online databases, internet at work, full-text articles, and EBP education materials.ConclusionsUK osteopaths were generally supportive of evidence-based practice, had moderate-level skills in EBP and engaged in EBP activities infrequently. The development of effective interventions that improve osteopaths’ skills and the incorporation of EBP into clinical practice should be the focus of future research.

An investigation of Australian osteopaths’ attitudes, skills and utilisation of evidence-based practice: a national cross-sectional survey

“…Given that this survey was distributed to practicing osteopaths, most without academic or research affiliations, it should be expected that they use research findings rather than produce them. Again, our findings are similar to recent studies, where Malaysian physiotherapists [41], US chiropractors [32] and UK osteopaths [29] were found to be confident in information appraisal, but lacked research skills. The small percentage of osteopaths reporting high-level skill in conducting clinical research or systematic reviews was also similar to previous studies of US and Canadian chiropractors where less than 5 % of respondents reported a high level of skill in these areas [31, 32].…”

“…They also reported moderate-to-high levels of self-perceived skill in the identification of clinical questions and knowledge gaps in practice, as well as appraising and applying evidence from research to their clinical practice. These findings were similar to the perceived EBP skill level reported by UK osteopaths [29]. Interestingly, respondents in the current study judged their skills in the relatively high-level tasks of ‘critical appraisal’ and ‘evidence synthesis’ to be of similar level as the more fundamental skill of ‘using findings from systematic reviews’.…”

“…Our previous research examined the barriers and facilitators of EBP uptake amongst UK osteopaths [29]. The work identified lack of time and a paucity of clinical evidence in osteopathy as key barriers to EBP uptake; access to online databases, internet at work, full-text articles, and EBP education materials were perceived to be important enablers of EBP utilisation.…”

The Spanish Osteopathic Practitioners Estimates and RAtes (OPERA) study: A cross-sectional survey

“…However, the number of responses obtained are sufficient to verify if there is a difference between categories [38]. In fact, our numbers are similar or superior to those found in other surveys conducted among osteopaths in the UK [39], Quebec [8] or even similar to recent surveys conducted among physiotherapists in Germany [40], Saudi Arabia [41] or Australia [42]. Only the completion of a regulatory process and the creation of the mandatory official register will allow to exactly know the number of Spanish osteopaths.…”

Models and theoretical frameworks for osteopathic care – A critical view and call for updates and research

“…Providing clarity on norms and expectations (Table 1), favouring exposure to rich clinic experiences, and shaping the culture of the profession would contribute to professional identity formation [38][39][40]. Some promising leads could be to open discussions about osteopathic principles, evidenceinformed education in osteopathy [41][42][43], considering opportunities for 'think tanks' to inform policymakers, reach agreement on models relying on quality consensus studies, include patient, practitioner and experts in discussions, and structure our research to focus on building our foundations [44]. Table 2 provides some suggested steps to put in place before proposing models of care in osteopathic education.…”