Tye-Smith, Alicia (2005) An observational study of student osteopaths' measurement of arterial blood pressure by sphygmomanometry and auscultation. Coursework Master thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to observe the rate of compliance that postgraduate (4th and 5th year) osteopathy students demonstrate when applying their undergraduate blood pressure (BP) measurement training in a clinical situation. Thirty-seven volunteer postgraduate participants were watched measuring blood pressure in a mock clinical situation by two observers. Both observers according to whether or not each component of blood pressure measuring was observed ticked a 20-point checklist. Overall the participants showed a 56% compliance rate according to the guidelines taught to them. Inter-class correlation coefficient showed a high level of inter-examiner reliability with a significant ICC of 0.996 found in observation of the students. The results from this investigation indicated that the osteopathic students failed to comply with the blood pressure measurement guidelines taught to them. This may lead to practitioner introduced error. The importance of performing and recording certain variables should be taken into account when teaching and assessing osteopathy students in the future. Further investigation into the knowledge retention of the students is suggested before major conclusions are drawn. This minor thesis was written by a post-graduate student as part of the requirements of the Master of Health Science (Osteopathy) program.

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