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Determination of Forces Used in Palpatory Diagnosis

The Effect of Experience and Gender on the Palpatory Forces Exerted by Novice and Experienced Osteopaths in Australia

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00781144
Enrollment
82
Registered
2008-10-28
Start date
2007-08-31
Completion date
2007-08-31
Last updated
2008-10-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy Volunteers

Brief summary

In this study, we are experimentally investigating the assessment of forces used by skilled clinicians and beginning practitioners in palpatory techniques. The study will assess pressure used during palpatory diagnosis of the paraspinal region.

Detailed description

The study will assess pressure used during palpatory diagnosis of the paraspinal region. The research hypothesis is that both experience and gender will affect the amount of pressure exerted with diagnostic springing. The data will be valuable in characterizing practice parameters of novice and skilled osteopathic clinicians in palpation and will provide data on skill maturation from novice to experienced clinician. It will also allow far more precise teaching of these skills to students, who can use the transducers to determine how much pressure they are using compared to skilled clinicians. For measuring the palpatory forces, a thin film pressure transducer will be used in the hand of the clinician. Data will be collected on a portable computer via an analog to digital interface.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

Nova Southeastern University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* osteopathic student first year or senior or experienced osteopathic clinician

Exclusion criteria

* none

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
palpatory force exerted with PA springing3 minutes

Countries

Australia, United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026