The online survey was developed in SurveyGizmo, LLC. Responses were anonymous, and 1 response per person was permitted. The first section of the survey described the purposes of the survey, the types of questions that would be asked, the anonymity of responses, and the voluntary nature of participation, which could be ceased at any time. Respondents were also informed that participation in the survey served as consent to be in the study. The second section contained the survey questions. Respondents were asked to report their demographic characteristics (ie, age, sex, year of residency completion, board certification specialty, state in which they currently practiced, percentage of patients who were aged 65 years or older [≤25%, 26%-50%, 51%-75%, or 76%-100%]) and their use of OMT.
The OMT-related questions asked respondents to indicate the extent to which they used OMT in their practice, the types of musculoskeletal (eg, ankle pain, arthritis, back pain) and system-based (eg, cardiac, gastrointestinal, neurologic) conditions for which they administered OMT, and the OMT techniques they used for patients in 3 age groups (<65 years, 65-79 years, and ≥80 years). For questions regarding both musculoskeletal and system-based conditions, respondents were able to indicate whether they did not use OMT to manage each of the listed conditions and were able to type in additional conditions for which they used OMT if the condition was not included among those already listed. For questions regarding which OMT techniques respondents used, respondents were able to indicate they did not use each of the listed techniques and were able to type in additional techniques they used if the technique was not included among those already listed.
During a 4-month period in 2012, AAO members who met the inclusion criteria were e-mailed 3 invitations to participate in the study. The invitation contained a short description of the survey and a link to the survey.