The Patient Profile of a Uk Osteopathic Student Out-patient Clinic: a Retrospective Descriptive Study

Abstract

Osteopathy is a healthcare discipline regulated by statute within the UK. Little is known regarding the day-to-day practice of osteopaths. The aim of this study was to investigate the patient profile within a teaching institution. Data regarding patients and their presenting symptoms are routinely collected at UK OEIs. The data were analysed from a sample spanning three years. The demographic data collected described the patient population sample in terms of age range, gender, occupation and ethnicity. The patient symptom data collected was comprised of site of pain, aetiology, symptom duration and symptom pattern. The study first profiles the clinic patient population, describing the prevalence of the types of presenting complaint, and then profiles the demographics of the sample. The study then compared the demographic data to the symptom data to assess for trends within the sample.Methods Data from a total of 3,760 patient records attending between 02/01/13 and 24/12/15 were analysed. This data was cleansed leaving 3243 complete patient records. The data was then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics via the StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences. The statistical tests used were the nonparametric test, Kendall’s rank order correlation, and Pearson’s Chi-Square correlations for the ordinal data. Distributions and frequency counts were performed to describe the data using Microsoft excel.Results The sample of the clinic population analysed included 3243 patient records, of which 1834 were female (57%) and 1408 (43%) were male. The ethnic profile of included records was predominantly Caucasian at 68%, with 13% of Black Minority Ethnic origin and 12% South Asian. The age range is from 0 to 80+ years, and the majority of participants are aged 30-39 (31%). The most common sites of pain were: low back (33%), neck (23%), upper back (9%), mid back (7%), and shoulder (6%). The results suggest that gender may influence site of pain, and that ethnicity is not associated with symptom duration but may be associated with symptom site and pattern, however the association is weak and may not be generalizable beyond this cohort. No statistical significance was found between occupation and pain. Conclusion This study is a detailed profile of a UK OEIs clinic’s patient population. It investigated potential links between demographic data and presenting complaints. Further study with a larger sample size would allow more reliable analysis of data, repeating similar investigation at other institutions may enhance understanding of this topic and highlight if regional differences occur. This study highlights that there are no discernable correlation between pain presentation and occupation or ethnicity. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICEThis study adds to the existing research literature by:Profiles the patient population of a UK OEI with reference to; ethnicity, age and gender.Demonstrates a relationship between gender and sites of pain and no link between occupation and presenting complaint.