Manual Medicine Related Injuries Experienced by Physicians: A Missing Aspect in Therapies Using Manipulation of Joints

Background. In 2010 Manual Medicine (MM) was the second most common additional qualification among physicians in Germany, which is recommended to be used in several guidelines. Aim of this analysis was to raise the amount of information on MM related injuries (MMri) experienced by physicians at any point of their career while applying MM. Methods. Data on MMri of a questionnaire that was used to gain first insights into MM in Germany from a health services research perspective was analysed. Results. A total of 301 physicians (20% female) participated in this study. The participants' mean age was 46. 11% of the participants experienced some kind of MMri during their career as a MM provider. In the three worst cases these MMri were fractures and therefore classified as moderate. Mild MMri were joint dysfunction syndromes (N = 30), distortions of fingers (N = 7), and shoulder pain (N = 3). Subgroup analyses showed no significant differences in the rate of MMri when comparing gender, provider organizations for postgraduate MM courses, and medical disciplines. Conclusion. Our analysis shows risks for providers of MM. As this analysis suffers from the risk of recall bias, future studies should be performed to get more insights into this aspect of MM.