Conclusion
Our work sought to identify the prevalence of exercise prescription used by osteopaths for patient management, and to profile the clinical management characteristics of osteopaths who often use it. This work from a nationally-representative PBRN profiles the characteristics of the 74% of Australian osteopaths who often use exercise prescription in patient management. We identified a number of patient and clinical management characteristics associated with the use of exercise prescription often in osteopathy patient care. These included discussion of physical activity, diet and nutrition, often treating patients with sport injuries, and use of health professional referral networks. Whether these strategies are consistent with the best available evidence requires additional investigation, but the results support the conclusion that a significant proportion of Australian osteopaths often use exercise prescription in patient care.