Item development for a questionnaire investigating patient self reported perception,satisfaction and outcomes of a single osteopathy in the cranial field (OCF) treatment

BackgroundOsteopathy in the Cranial Field (OCF) is a treatment approach used by osteopaths in the management of a wide variety of complaints. OCF is based on the premise that the bones of the skull are mobile and that changes in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid can affect the function of the body. There are only a few studies assessing the effectiveness of OCF and there is no published research investigating patients' perception of what happens during and post an OCF treatment.ObjectiveTo develop items for a patient self-reported questionnaire that assesses patients' own perceptions of one OCF treatment.DesignSystematic literature search, item development and face validity testing.MethodsA systematic search of the literature was undertaken to identify a measure or measures that may be suitable to assess patient perceptions of OCF. No measure of patient perception of OCF was located. Measures of patient ratings of satisfaction, efficacy and outcomes of physical therapy treatment were located and reviewed. From these published measures, items that were appropriate for a measure of OCF were identified and considered as possible items to include in a new measure of patient perception of OCF. Items were developed and face validity was investigated.ParticipantsSix osteopaths who were familiar with or use OCF as part of their treatment approach, 2 patients who had previously been treated by osteopaths who used OCF exclusively, and 2 patients who had not previously received any OCF treatment as part of their osteopathic treatment.ResultsA systematic literature search was conducted. Appropriate items were extracted from 7 articles in the ‘osteopathy’ search and 4 additional articles from the ‘manual therapy’ search. Items were reworded, where appropriate, to ensure they reflected the OCF approach. Consideration of face validity identified a number of changes that were required to some of the items.ConclusionsThe Patient Perception Measure of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field (PPM-OCF) was developed to assess patient perceptions of the OCF treatment approach. Six domains of patient perception of treatment were identified and 37 items were developed within these 6 domains. Further psychometric testing of the PPM-OCF is required prior to its application in the clinical and research settings.