Is perception of pain altered by becoming a manual therapist? An algometric study of pain perception in osteopathic students at varying undergraduate levels.
Item
- Title
- Is perception of pain altered by becoming a manual therapist? An algometric study of pain perception in osteopathic students at varying undergraduate levels.
- Author(s)
- O’Sullivan, J
- Abstract
- Introduction: Pain is a uniquely subjective phenomenon and has varied external factors that influence its perception. Exposure to its effects has the potential to alter not only perception of one’s own pain but also the perception of pain as it is reported by patients to clinicians, thereby affecting patient interaction in osteopathic practice.Method: A convenience cohort of one hundred European School of Osteopathy (ESO) students at varying stages of their academic tuition participated in an experiment to establish if there is an alteration of pain perception liked with progression through the course. Subjective evaluation of pressure pain threshold (PPT) is recorded using the number rating scale (NRS). This provides a snapshot of pain perception at their given stage of the course. Results: Progression through a four-year osteopathic training programme shows an increasing trend in PPT by the third year of tuition and a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.01) in the fourth year. Other factors examined which affect PPT include age (decreased PPT), Body Mass Index (increased PPT), alcohol consumption (increased PPT) and smoking history (increased PPT). Discussion: Practical course work is cited as impacting PPT, with other factors age, BMI, alcohol consumption and smoking history also playing a role. Consideration is given to the influence altered perception of pain has on the patient-clinician interaction. Conclusion: The data confirm the hypotheses that PPT is affected by all factors examined including year of study, age, BMI, smoking history and alcohol consumption.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2014
- Date Submitted
- 20.1.2015 16:43:40
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15520
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Algometer, Student well-being, Pain
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
O’Sullivan, J, “Is perception of pain altered by becoming a manual therapist? An algometric study of pain perception in osteopathic students at varying undergraduate levels.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 17, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/644