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.