Measurement and Evolution of the Intolerance to Uncertainty in Osteopaths and Osteopathic Students: a Longitudinal Study

Clinical reasoning is a challenging, complex, multi-dimensional, essentially introspective and poorly understood cognitive process, as well as a crucial skill for osteopaths and health professionals. It can be agreed that this includes diagnosing the patient's condition, making therapeutic decisions to improve that condition, and the practitioner's ability to assess the patient's prognosis. Individual clinical expertise is acquired through experience. Each healthcare professional develops their own approach to problem-solving and decision-making, influenced by factors such as personality, preferences, clinical perception, and professional practices. It is important to be aware that certain factors can influence their judgement and potentially affect the quality of their work. It is possible that certain factors may influence their judgement and potentially lead to errors in their decision-making, as they can be influenced by cognitive biases such as intolerance of uncertainty. Uncertainty intolerance is defined as a personal disposition characterised by negative beliefs about uncertainty and its consequences, coupled with an underlying apprehension about the unknown. Uncertainty affects the behaviour of individuals by creating a need for certainty, which in turn affects the clinical reasoning and decision-making of healthcare professionals.

The objective of this study is to assess the level of intolerance to uncertainty among osteopathic students and osteopaths using an online self-report questionnaire. A second questionnaire will be sent out six months after the first, allowing to assess individual changes in this intolerance over time. Furthermore, the impact of being a graduate, anxiety and the type of osteopath responding to the questionnaire will be examined. The final measure will be evaluated using a classification method called latent class analysis. This will be based on responses to questions about their relationship to evidence-based practice, dogmatism and their thoughts about the impact of osteopathic treatment.

The aim of this study is to carry out a psychometric validation of the intolerance to uncertainty questionnaire on a population of osteopaths.