0
Health & Wellness Services

STUDY 10

Completed

INTRODUCTION

Since 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and European guidelines have recommended manual therapy as first- line treatment for MSK ill-health.  Manual therapy is an approach where Practitioners of Manual Therapy (PoMT) use hands-on data acquisition and analysis (HODA-A) as a measurement instrument for research, diagnosis, prognosis, and a tool for treatment.  Yet manual therapy techniques fail all reliability studies, therefore without proof that hands-on is a valid and reliable method of data collection, this very much limits the conclusions that can be drawn from using the hands in MSK healthcare.

To date, what remains unknown is whether these five constructs exist, or are applicable to ‘what works’ for practitioners of manual therapy (PoMTs) when using HODA-A as a measurement instrument. To explore the Scientific Evaluation and Review of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCHTM) of HODA-A, an international expert panel was recruited (Coulter et al., 2016; Jonas et al., 2017) and a phenomenographic analysis of the transcripts conducted. Advocated as a method of studying practitioners’ decision-making processes (Depoy & Gitlin, 1993), a focus group approach was used to generate primarily qualitative data, by capitalising on the discussions that occurred (Sim & Snell, 1996).

HYPOTHESIS

This experiment aims to interpret a phenomenon [HODA-A] by investigating the different ways in which groups of PoMT contextualise HODA-A, biasing empirical rather than theoretical or philosophical basis.  Explore the relationships between the constructs and items for the development of HODA-A as a measurement instrument and identify if any constructs or items were missing. A phenomenographic analysis was used to describe the different ways grouped PoMT understand the phenomenon, HODA-A.

 

RECRUITMENT

Sixteen expert panellists were selected (9 men aged 39 ± 12.4 years and 7 women aged 54 ± 12.6 years) from various MSK disciplines (1 Osteopath, 14 Physiotherapists, 1 Physical Therapist with 20 ± 11.3 years’ experience).

Jo Abbott Blueprint Patient MSK Health Chat

Volunteers were considered experts on HODA-A if they had completed a recognised manual therapy qualification and registered with a professional body, with at least four years clinical experience, and continue to use their hands in clinical practice (Keeney et al., 2001). Recruitment was conducted on social media (Facebook and Twitter) throughout July and August 2020. The moderator (author) had one-to-one consultations with all volunteers to discuss expectations of the study. Twenty-five volunteers applied, nine were rejected due to; (1) lack of interest in the topic (Trevelyan & Robinson, 2015), (2) lack of specific acumen (clinician, researcher, and educator) (Coulter et al., 2016), or (3) poor correspondence.

The volunteers were assigned to one of three groups pending their country specific time zone and availability (seven countries). The specific and relevant acumen was proportionately distributed (naturally occurred): Group 1 N=4 (100% clinical, 50% research, 75% educator), Group 2 N=6 (100% clinical, 17% research, 50% educator), and Group 3 N=6 (100% clinical, 33% research, 50% educator). All volunteers were blinded to expert panellists outside of their focus group. Volunteers were assured the data will not be published in a form that will threaten the anonymity of individual volunteers (Sim & Snell, 1996). No volunteers dropped-out of this study. WhatsApp and the virtual webpage improved communication within groups which may have contributed to the volunteer retention for this study.

Over a four-month duration, one consultation per month, three parallel expert panel focus groups met monthly online to share their experiences and perceptions of using HODA-A in MSK clinical practice. Each consultation normally lasted 1-2 hours (Millward, 1995) and were conducted and recorded using Zoom – an innovative videoconferencing platform (Archibald et al., 2019).

The topic guide (Table 27) included a short presentation from the moderator about HODA-A issues, distribution of stimulus materials (list of key topics, webpage updates, items for appraisal, further reading etc), and time for individual collection of thoughts (Carey, 1994). Towards the end of each consultation, the group were given their homework which needed to be completed 10 days prior to the next group specific consultation.

Conclusion

This phenomenographic approach, has offered a substantial insight into the necessary measurement theories and conceptual framework needed for HODA-A to be used as a measurement instrument, by enriching the relatively superficial data from prior quantitative research (Chapter 3) (Calder, 1977). This study has provided evidence of a further three constructs that underpin HODA-A when used by PoMTs to conduct MSK assessments.

This Study provided the measurement theory and conceptual framework evidence needed to develop HODA-A as a measurement instrument.

  1. HODA-A’s Measurement Theory uses eight constructs, with associated items, to conduct manual MSK assessments on the general population.
  2. HODA-A’s Conceptual Framework requires a complex system approach to understanding the relationships between the eight constructs and items underpinning HODA-A performance.
August 27, 2023

4 responses on "STUDY 10"

  1. Shiraz TejaAugust 25, 2020 at 8:57 am

    Wish you good luck with this Jo and Co!
    Please keep me informed.
    Shiraz

  2. Jo AbbottAugust 25, 2020 at 9:28 am

    Thank you sooo much Shiraz. Wrapping up the PhD is super exciting! How are things with you?

  3. Eugenio AstudilloSeptember 1, 2020 at 1:01 am

    I just filled the formulaire
    Please keep me updated
    Thanks
    Kind regards
    Eugenio

Leave a Message

Testimonials

  • Mel

    “Fat Loss – simple. I have achieved something I never thought I was capable of doing. I have got down to a weight that...

    More Info

  • Dave

    “Client to Coach. Prior to seeing Jo I was struggling with recurrent hip, knee and Achilles injuries, which I had almost accepted as the...

    More Info

  • Kat & Penny

    “PARs Defect (fracture of spine) 2006 was a summer of playing lots of tennis tournaments, many matches back-to-back. Kat’s serve was poor as her...

    More Info

  • Jill

    Jo, I would like to thank you for showing me how to get my life back, after 10 years of steadily decreasing health following...

    More Info

  • Andrea

    “Personally I feel fantastic and it is all down to you and your amazing healthy programme especially the BodyMOT Lifestyle & Biomechanical Assessment. I...

    More Info

Services

Products to use

Clinical Practice

    No Posts Id's found in given Custom Post Type. ..more..
  • © 2020 Body MOT Systems.