Determinants of health, health behaviours and demographic profile of patients attending an Australian university student-led osteopathy clinic

Abstract

Background: Profiles of health professions practice can inform pre-professional education, provide evidence to assist with interprofessional practice, and inform policy development. An understanding of the profile of patients seeking osteopathy care is emerging. Current research suggests that musculoskeletal presentations predominate with approximately one-third of patients presenting with co-morbid diseases. There is little data on these presentations in Australian osteopathy practice. This study aimed to describe the patient demographics, clinical presentations, health behaviours and determinants of health, including health literacy, of those attending for care at an Australian student-led osteopathy clinic. Methods: A convenience sample design was utilised where consecutive patients presenting for their initial consultation were invited to complete a health information questionnaire during 2016-2017. The questionnaire explored a range of health behaviours and the patient's health status. Data from the clinical records were also extracted to establish the presenting complaint, duration of the complaint and pertinent demographics. Descriptive statistics were generated for each variable. Results: Data were available for 1617 patients presenting for their initial consultation. The mean age of patients was 33.7 (±13.1) years with 55% (n = 887) identifying as female. Acute presentations predominated (n = 840, 52%), with presentations affecting the spine being the most common (57.8%). Most patients rated their health status as good to very good (75%). Approximately 7.5% of patients were identified as having low health literacy and 55.9% were currently suffering from one or more co-morbid presentations. Conclusions: The demographic profile and presenting complaints of patients presenting to a student-led osteopathy clinic are largely consistent with other Australian private practice profiles. The current work also identified co-morbid presentations, and positive and negative health behaviours. Osteopaths may play a role in the management of, or referral for, these presentations where health behaviours require change, or management of comorbid conditions is beyond the scope of practice. The increasing volume of patient profile literature globally suggests that osteopaths can play a substantial role in the management of musculoskeletal complaints. Further, osteopathy may play a role in screening determinants of health, and engage in multidisciplinary care to ensure those patients with co-morbid conditions or adverse health behaviours are managed appropriately.

Self-management behaviour and knowledge of patients with musculoskeletal complaints attending an Australian osteopathy clinic: A consecutive sampling design

“…The range of regions for the presenting musculoskeletal complaint is consistent with previous work both in the same clinical environment [22,24] and the Australian osteopathy profession more broadly [17,32].…”

“…Although patients are primarily presenting to the clinic with a musculoskeletal complaint, a proportion of these patients also present with a history of one of the common chronic diseases reported in the Australian population [1,22].…”

“…The questionnaire consisted of two parts; a health information questionnaire and the PiH scale. The health information questionnaire was developed for our clinical environment to capture data on a range of health behaviours and social determinants of health consistent with Australian public health surveys [2,22]. This health questionnaire included items such as physical activity level, serves of fruit and vegetables eaten per day, a life satisfaction screening question [23] and four single health literacy screening items [24,25].…”

Life satisfaction and musculoskeletal complaints in a population seeking osteopathy care: consecutive sample of 611 patients

“…The study was approved by the Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia) Human Research Ethics Committee (HRE15-035). The study utilised a consecutive sampling design and data analysed in the current work is part of a larger study into the health behaviours, demographics and experiences of patients attending for musculoskeletal care at the clinic [22].…”

“…To our knowledge the GLSS has not been used to investigate the life satisfaction of patients seeking care for musculoskeletal complaints. We have previously identified that those seeking osteopathy care in the student-led clinic environment report high levels of SWL with a single-item measure [22]. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the relationship of life satisfaction with other health demographics and behaviours, in patients seeking care for musculoskeletal complaints.…”