The osteopathic status specific of the practically healthy group of the military age male population

Introduction. Clinical assessment of a patient’s condition is traditionally based on comparing indicators characterizing the state of the body with the norm. In medicine, the understanding of the norm as a standard, a typical variant, as an ideal sample has become established. It is obvious that when studying mass phenomena, the norm is identified with the average variant. The osteopathic status of a healthy person has not yet been refl ected in scientific research, since in most cases people with specific complaints, long-established somatic dysfunctions (SD) and associated organic pathology come to an osteopathic doctor. In addition, due to the small spread of the «osteopathy» specialty in the field of compulsory health insurance, and the long duration of each appointment with a specialist, the number of people who have gone through an osteopathic examination is relatively small. Accordingly, there is a problem of assessing the osteopathic status (OS) on a fairly representative sample of conditionally healthy people. To solve this problem, it is advisable to conduct an osteopathic examination of a large group of practically healthy population, and systematize the obtained data. The category of military personnel can be chosen as such a population group — these are practically healthy and already minimally examined people.

The goal of research is to study the osteopathic status of the practically healthy group of men of military age, and to give a statistical assessment of the quantitative and qualitative diversity of the identified SD.

Materials and methods. The study involved practically healthy men of military age — conscripts, in the number of 480 people. According to the developed protocol, anamneses were collected and medical documentations of the study participants were studied, and the presence of a history of chronic diseases, operations and injuries was recorded. The assessment of the osteopathic status was based on the results of a Global osteopathic examination, which was conducted in accordance with clinical recommendations. Statistical processing of the results was performed using generally accepted parametric and nonparametric methods.

Results. The dominant regional (RSD) and local (LSD) somatic dysfunctions were identified in the examined group of military personnel: RSD — 4 % (region of the Dura mater); LSD — 96 %, including 37 % — visceral LSD, 35 % — LSD of the musculoskeletal system, 24 % — LSD of the head region. From 1 to 8 LSD was detected per soldier examined, (2,3 LSD per person in average). No global somatic dysfunctions were detected. An analysis of the injuries and surgeries in the anamnesis indicates that it contribute to the formation of dominant LSD of the musculoskeletal system and visceral organs.

Conclusion. The conducted research allowed to establish that, despite the individual characteristics of development, a healthy person of military age of the surveyed group shows mainly local somatic dysfunctions. There is a statistically significant association between a burdened history (injuries and surgery) and osteopathic status. The use of osteopathic diagnostics allows to detect somatic dysfunctions which could potentially be a predictor of the formation of more serious diseases and conditions. 

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