Factors influencing parents’ decisions to choose osteopathic care for their children.

Item

Title
Factors influencing parents’ decisions to choose osteopathic care for their children.
Author(s)
Cadoux, A
Abstract
Background: The number of consultations to osteopathic practices for paediatric conditions is increasing but a model to understand parents' decision-making process is lacking. Objective: This study investigated the factors that influence parents when choosing osteopathic treatment for their children. Settings: Foundation for Paediatric Osteopathy (FPO) in London and 10 private practices in Kent, August 2010 Design: Questionnaires were distributed to parents accompanying their children for an osteopathic consultation. The respondents were randomly selected from the patient population of the practices. 200 questionnaires were distributed and the overall response rate was 56%: 66% were returned from FPO and 46% from private practices (n=l12). Analysis of results was carried out using bar charts for descriptive analysis; the Chi-square test and the Fisher exact test were used for inferential statistical analysis of correlations and differences. Results: Results showed that parents turned to osteopathy mainly for gastro-intestinal disorders (18% of overall reasons for consultation) and check-ups (16%) and that 89% of parents waited less than 6 months before making the decision to consult an osteopath. Even though 65% of children saw their GP before consulting an osteopath. I parent out of 3 was recommended to wait or do nothing for their child's complaint and 90% of parents were not given any recommendations regarding osteopathy and/or alternative therapies from their GP, even though 80% of parents sampled did report osteopathy to be helpful. Discussion: The two sampled groups showed many similarities with regard to the parameters under investigation. Discrepancies observed with descriptive analysis were not always confirmed by inferential statistical tests. The major factor driving parents' choice of osteopathy was recommendation from their social network.Analysis demonstrated that children use of osteopathy was positively correlated to parental previous experience of osteopathy; parents who received treatments did not seem to wait as long as parents who have never received osteopathic treatment. Results of the current study also tallied with previous research: homeopathy was the alternative therapy most commonly used in conjunction with osteopathy for children. Conclusion: This study revealed that previous parental experience of steopathy and friends/relatives recommendation were the most important factors that influencedparents in choosing osteopathy for their children. The fact that GPs did not recommend osteopathy did not seem to affect decision-making process of parents nor were _practical' factors (convenience, accessibility, cost lof treatment). Limitations were noticed when analysing data with regards to sample size, flaws in question wording, confounding variables and bias due to the procedure followed. In
light of this knowledge, it would be of interest to re-investigate the factors that influence parents in choosing osteopathy for their children
presented at
European School of Osteopathy
Date Accepted
2011
Date Submitted
22.1.2013 16:23:35
Type
osteo_thesis
Language
English
Submitted by:
62
Pub-Identifier
15258
Inst-Identifier
1229
Keywords
Osteopathic care of children; Parenting
Recommended
0
Item sets
Thesis

Cadoux, A, “Factors influencing parents’ decisions to choose osteopathic care for their children.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 2, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/807