Jane Johnson, DO-Touch.NET Associate Director, and Brian Degenhardt, DO-Touch.NET Director, presented results on the characteristics of adult patients who use osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) to address some of their health problems.

Johnson and Degenhardt concluded that:

• Adults are primarily using OMT for treatment of musculoskeletal pain conditions, such as low back pain, neck pain, and tension headaches.
• Before receiving OMT, patients reported that pain interfered with their quality of life more than the general US population. Additionally, they reported more fatigue and worse physical functioning than the general US population.
• Of those patients who had no previous experience with OMT, 72% had tried exercise, stretching or yoga, medication, chiropractic adjustment, massage therapy, physical therapy, supplements, surgery, and/or acupuncture for the health problems they were seeking treatment for. Of these previous treatments, medication, chiropractic adjustments, and exercise were the most helpful.

Want to know more about the types of patients who use osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT)? Check out our publication in the December 2019 issue of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

Funding for the research study, Use and Effectiveness of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine in the Clinical Setting, was provided by the American Osteopathic Association.