It is well known that there is a significant delay before findings from primary research reaches clinical practice. Several authors estimate that the average delay to be around 17 years (Morris, Wooding & Grant, 2011). Such delays are common across all healthcare disciplines, and osteopathy is unlikely to be an exception.
Some reasons for the poor rate of translation from research into practice include clinicians feeling too busy to read research in the first place (Bussières et al 2016), or feeling that they are not equipped to interpret research (Schneider et al 2015). Within osteopathy specifically, these factors can be further compounded by the mistrust that some clinicians feel towards modern research methodologies and ‘evidence-based practice’ (EBP) (Figg-Latham & Rajendran, 2017).
To read the full story visit http://www.iosteopathy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pages-from-OT-May-June-2017-LR-Part-A.pdf
References
Bussières A, Zoubi F, Stuber K, French S, Boruff J, Corrigan J, Thomas A (2016). Evidence-based practice, research utilization, and knowledge translation in chiropractic: a scoping review BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 16(216) Available online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4944433/
Figg-Latham J, Rajendran D (2017). Quiet dissent: the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of UK osteopaths who reject low back pain guidance – a qualitative study. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice. 2017 Feb; 27:97-105. Available online at http://bit.ly/osteopaths-beliefs-lbp
Morris Z, Wooding S, Grant J (2011). The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2011 Dec; 104(12): 510–520. Available online at http://bit.ly/research-delay
Schneider M, Evans R, Haas M, Leach M, Hawk C, Long C, Cramer G, Walters O, Vihstadt C, Terhorst L (2015). US chiropractors’ attitudes, skills and use of evidence-based practice: A cross-sectional national survey Chiropractic and Manual Therapies. 23(16) Available online at http://chiromt.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12998-015-0060-0