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The perceptions and experiences of osteopathic treatment among cancer patients in palliative care: a qualitative study

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Abstract

Purpose

This research aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of cancer patients receiving osteopathic treatment as a complementary therapy when it is used in addition to conventional treatment for cancer pain.

Methods

This qualitative study employed semi structured interviews of cancer patients in a palliative care unit in Lyon, France, who received treatment from an osteopath alongside their conventional cancer treatment. We analysed data using grounded theory and qualitative methods.

Results

We interviewed 16 patients. The themes identified through the analysis included a low awareness of osteopathy among the population and an accompanying high level of misconceptions. The benefits of osteopathy were described as more than just the manual treatments with participants valuing osteopathy as a holistic, meditative, and non-pharmaceutical approach. Participants also described the osteopathic treatments as assisting with a range of cancer-related health complaints such as pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. Offering osteopathic treatment at an accessible location at low or no cost were identified by participants as enablers to the continued use of osteopathy.

Conclusions

The findings of this study provides preliminary data which suggests, when delivered alongside existing medical care, osteopathy may have health benefits for patients with complex conditions such as cancer.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Research, Endeavour College of Natural Health, Fortitude Valley, QLD, Australia

    Amie Steel

  2. Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Amie Steel

  3. Department of Palliative Medecine, Centre Hospitalier de Lyon-Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 165 Chemin du Grand Revoyet, 69310, Pierre-Bénite, France

    Colombe Tricou, Thomas Monsarrat, Murielle Ruer, Cécile Deslandes, Corinne Sisoix & Marilène Filbet

Authors
  1. Amie Steel
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  2. Colombe Tricou
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  3. Thomas Monsarrat
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  4. Murielle Ruer
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  5. Cécile Deslandes
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  6. Corinne Sisoix
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  7. Marilène Filbet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marilène Filbet.

Ethics declarations

The ethics committee approved our study. All participants gave written informed consent before their inclusion in the study. The present article respects the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines (Tong et al. 2007).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. All raw data is held by the research and deidentified data can be made available upon request.

Additional information

Dr. Steel and Tricou are co-first authors for this manuscript.

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Steel, A., Tricou, C., Monsarrat, T. et al. The perceptions and experiences of osteopathic treatment among cancer patients in palliative care: a qualitative study. Support Care Cancer 26, 3627–3633 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4233-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4233-y

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