European research Priorities for Osteopathic Care (PROCare): a sequential exploratory investigation and survey

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study is to identify and analyse research priorities across the osteopathic profession internationally, to determine how different interested parties conceptualise research importance and to examine how contextual factors influence research prioritisation.

Design A mixed methods sequential exploratory design combining an umbrella review, a thematic analysis, an expert consensus agreement and an international cross-sectional survey was used to define, validate and evaluate research priorities.

Setting An international online survey, available in nine languages, was distributed through professional osteopathic organisations and network worldwide, a patient representative organisation and social media.

Participants 2229 respondents including patients (7.4%), practitioners (42.1%), students (17.4%), educators (13.5%), researchers (5.0%) and policy makers (4.3%) from across 42 countries.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcomes were interested party’s conceptualisation of research importance and validation of the priorities in Research for Osteopathic Care (PROCare) framework. Secondary outcomes included current research priorities across interested parties groups and influence of contextual factors on prioritisation.

Results Three distinct approaches to priority-setting emerged: conservative (42.9%), sceptic (20.2%) and enthusiast (36.9%). Organising research priorities as a construct built from domains and subdomains was shown to be internally valid (Cronbach’s α=0.911). ‘Patient safety’ (nominated by 82% of relevant countries) and ‘physical activities and mobility’ (51.0%) were the most prioritised subdomains. ‘Digital health’ ranked lowest (28th of 28 subdomains). Significant geographic variations were observed mainly for the overall importance to most research domains. Strong consensus emerged around core priorities including patient safety, physical activity promotion and understanding treatment mechanisms.

Conclusions The PROCare framework provides a validated structure for evaluating osteopathic research priorities across diverse interested parties. While geographic variations exist in priority emphasis, fundamental agreement on key research domains suggests potential for internationally coordinated research strategies. Future work should focus on developing mechanisms to ensure balanced representation of conservative, sceptic and enthusiast perspectives in research planning.