Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Dec 23, 2022
Date Accepted: Nov 27, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Characteristics, Opportunities, and Challenges of Osteopathy (COCO) in the Perceptions of Osteopaths in Austria: a Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
There are no uniform regulations for the osteopathic profession in Europe. It is subject to country-specific regulations defining who shall be allowed to practise osteopathy and which qualification shall be required. In recent years, legal regulations have been established in several European countries for the profession of osteopaths; however, these are also still pending for Austria. At present, physiotherapists and medical doctors with osteopathic training are practising osteopathy there.
Objective:
This study shall examine the characteristics, challenges and opportunities of osteopaths in Austria.
Methods:
Guideline-based interviews with osteopaths (n = 10) were conducted. The different research questions were examined by means of the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.
Results:
The study provided a differentiated insight into the professional situation of osteopaths in Austria. The most important result was that all interviewees unanimously supported a legal regulation of their profession. However, due to their different professional self-image – on the one hand structurally working persons, and on the other hand persons working on a cranial/biodynamic basis -. they were able to imagine a uniform professional regulation only to a limited extent. Additional topics for the interviewed osteopaths in Austria were the quality assurance of the training and the urgently needed scientific research. Besides, the study also dealt with the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the daily practice and on the education and training in osteopathy.
Conclusions:
This study is a pioneering study with regard to systematic basic research on osteopathy in Austria. The results obtained and the newly acquired research questions are not only supposed to serve as a basis for further research, but also to provide insight into the working and professional situation of osteopaths in Austria for universities, schools, professional associations and politics, as well as – last but not least – all interested parties. Clinical Trial: International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): PRR2-10.2196/15399
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