GeneralORIGINAL ARTICLE

Assessing the United States’ most frequently asked questions about osteopathic medicine, osteopathic education, and osteopathic manipulative treatment

Nicholas B. Sajjadi, BSc; Ryan Ottwell, DO; Samuel Shepard, BSc; Natasha Bray, DO; Robin Dyer, DO; Jennifer Wilson, DO; Matt Vassar, PhD; and Micah Hartwell, PhD
Notes and Affiliations
Notes and Affiliations

Received: December 1, 2021

Accepted: December 15, 2021

Published: February 18, 2022

  • Nicholas B. Sajjadi, BSc, 

    Office of Medical Student Research, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Ryan Ottwell, DO, 

    Office of Medical Student Research, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Samuel Shepard, BSc, 

    Office of Medical Student Research, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Natasha Bray, DO, 

    Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Robin Dyer, DO, 

    Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Jennifer Wilson, DO, 

    Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Matt Vassar, PhD, 

    Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

  • Micah Hartwell, PhD, 

    Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA

J Osteopath Med; 122(5): 219-227
Abstract

Context: Osteopathic medicine in the United States continues to produce a substantial number of physicians and medical educators. However, recently popularized misconceptions about osteopathic medical practice, education, and manual therapy suggest an unsettling prevalence of inaccurate beliefs held by the public. The public often searches the internet to find out information about osteopathic medicine, but the content of questions and the transparency of the resulting information is unknown.

Objectives: We sought to explore frequently asked questions (FAQs) generated by Google to assess commonly searched questions about the osteopathic profession and to determine the level of information transparency associated with resulting sources.

Methods: On June 16, 2021, we searched Google for three terms: “osteopathic medicine,” “doctor of osteopathic medicine,” and “DO,” until a minimum of 100 FAQs and their answer links were extracted from each search. After excluding irrelevant FAQs, we used Rothwell’s Classification of Questions to categorize the FAQs. We then used the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Benchmark Criteria to assess information transparency for each corresponding answer source provided by Google. The answer sources were screened for the inappropriate use of “osteopathy” in place of “osteopathic medicine” and for “osteopath” in place of “DO,” “Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine,” or “Osteopathic Physician.” We performed statistical tests to ascertain the differences in information transparency between osteopathic and nonosteopathic information sources.

Results: Our Google search revealed 110 unique FAQs about osteopathic medicine. The majority of FAQs were classified as fact-based (82/110; 74.55%), nearly half of which (45.12%) were related to the medical practicing privileges of DOs. The FAQs were most commonly answered by academic institutions (44/110, 40.0%). Nearly half (49.09%) of the linked answer sources were deemed inadequate by JAMA benchmark criteria. Of the 110 linked answer sources, 19 (17.27%) misused either osteopathy, osteopath, or both to describe osteopathic physicians. Only 30 sources were linked to US-based osteopathic organizations. Osteopathic organizations were statistically less likely to meet high-transparency criteria than nonosteopathic organizations (p=0.002).

Conclusions: Our study shows that the US public may be unsure about the physician status of DOs, which may prevent securing the professional identity of osteopathic physicians in the eyes of the public. Osteopathic organizations should tailor awareness campaigns toward addressing the common misconceptions revealed by our study. Osteopathic organizations should use transparency criteria as a rubric when publishing information to enhance transparency.

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