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

Abstract

Background Life satisfaction is a component of the subjective well-being construct. Research consistently suggests that life satisfaction is associated with enhanced social benefits and improved health outcomes. However, its relationship to musculoskeletal health outcomes is underexplored. This study evaluates the life satisfaction of a patient population presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, and the relationship of life satisfaction with other health demographics and behaviours. Method The study used a consecutive sampling design. Patients attending the Victoria University Osteopathy Clinic (Melbourne, Australia) were invited to complete the PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale (GLSS) along with questions related to health demographics and behaviours. Results The GLSS T-score was not significantly different for gender, being born outside of Australia, speaking English at home, or complaint chronicity. Conclusions Life satisfaction did not appear to be related to a range of health and demographic variables in the current musculoskeletal pain cohort. The PROMIS® General Life Satisfaction scale could prove useful to explore the relationship between life satisfaction and treatment outcomes for musculoskeletal complaints.

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

“…The Coping subscale demonstrated a moderate positive relationship with life satisfaction, but trivial for the other subscales and total score. This is the first time that life satisfaction has been evaluated with the PiH, however it has been evaluated in osteopathy patient populations [36]. The items comprising the Coping subscale evaluate self-management of health across physical, psychological and social domains of health.…”