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Background: Osteopathy and its practice in Germany is unregulated without nationally agreed competencies, frameworks or practice standards. The heterogeneity of practice makes it likely that there is a great variety in the nature and scope of practice. Educational programs vary greatly in length and content and no nationally agreed curriculum exists. The high number of osteopathic associations with varying political goals and perspectives suggests a fragmentation of the osteopathic community. Little formal research has been reported on standards and practice of osteopathic care in Germany. The lack of data contributes to uncertainty and makes it difficult to build a case for a more united regulated profession. Purpose: A series of connected studies aimed to develop an instrument to survey the osteopathic profession in Germany. The purpose was to obtain data about the characteristics of the osteopaths and osteopathic physicians and their practice in order to provide a coherent picture of the profession in Germany. Methods: A scoping review and appraisal of cross-sectional studies was conducted to create an overview of the literature from cross-sectional studies in the field and to identify possible survey tools usable in the German context. This phase led to the decision to develop a survey instrument specifically for the German environment which was informed by the results of the scoping review. Previous questionnaires informed the first draft of the questionnaire. Mixed methods enhanced the design of the questionnaire utilising a consensus group, cognitive interviews with stakeholders, expert rating and feedback methodologies with participants nominated by national associations. After a final online pilot test the survey was implemented in a national cross-sectional survey with the participants recruited from eight national associations. Invitations were disseminated by the associations with 2 follow-up reminders. Data were collected using the SmartSurvey® online questionnaire system. Results: The validated questionnaire consisted of 55 items subdivided into 8 sections and was used in a cross-sectional study with a sample group of 8,331 osteopaths and osteopathic physicians from November 2017 to February 2018. The response rate was 18.9% (n=1578), from which 1,175 were active practicing respondents who had complete data sets. Osteopaths and osteopathic physicians in Germany provide osteopathic care for a wide range of patient age groups presenting with various complaints and conditions using a variety on methods and techniques. Some differences were observed between German practice nationally and practice internationally. Conclusions: Cross-sectional studies of osteopathic practice are commonly poorly reported and many are weak methodologically. A newly validated questionnaire has provided data on the nature of practice in Germany. There is some variability in practice between and within stakeholder osteopathic groups in Germany. There is a need for unification of the osteopathic groups and regulation to improve professional identity and to support the implementation of nationally agreed standards of practice, education and safety.

Background. Person-centred practices - following national and international developments in health-care policies - have become a key approach in healthcare. The Person-Centred Practice Inventory - Staff is an instrument based on the theo-retical framework Person-Centred Practice that focuses on the staff's perspective and how they experience person -cen-tred practices. Here, the aim of this study is to obtain the first Spanish version of the PCPI-S translated and adapted into the Spanish context. Methods. The translation and adaptation of the instrument followed the Translation and Cultural Adaptation of Patient Reported Outcomes Measures - Principles of Good Practice, which included a consulting session with experts. Content va-lidation measures on clarity and relevance were assessed for every item (I-CVI) and the survey as a whole (S-CVI/Ave). Results. No major difficulties were registered to reach an agree-ment on the 12 items that needed to be clarified. Regarding cla-rity and relevance. The validity index per item (I-CVI) obtained excellent scores for clarity in 53 items and for relevance in 59; the S-CVI/Ave showed excellent results (>= 90). Conclusions. This first version of the Person-Centred Practice Inventory - Staff instrument adapted to the Spanish context is conceptually and semantically equivalent to the original one. This valuable tool will be of great help to identify the perception of healthcare professionals on person-centred practices.

Background: Web-based questionnaires allow collecting data quickly, with minimal costs from large sample groups and through Web-based self-administered forms. Until recently, there has been a lack of evidence from large-scale epidemiological studies and nutrition surveys that have evaluated the comparison between traditional and new technologies to measure dietary intake. Objective: This study aimed to compare results from the general baseline questionnaire (Q_0) and the 10-year follow-up questionnaire (Q_10) in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) prospective cohort, obtained from different subjects, some of whom used a paper-based version, and others used a Web-based version. Both baseline and 10-year assessments included a validated 136-item semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ), used to collect dietary intake. Methods: The SUN project is a prospective cohort study (with continuous open recruitment and many participants who were recently recruited). All participants were university graduates. Participants who completed the validated FFQ at baseline (FFQ_0, n=22,564) were selected. The variables analyzed were classified into 6 groups of questions: (1) FFQ (136 items), (2) healthy eating attitudes (10 items), (3) alcohol consumption (3 items), (4) physical activity during leisure time (17 items), (5) other activities (24 items), and (6) personality traits (3 items). Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the adjusted differences between the mean number of missing values and the risk of having apparently incorrect values for FFQ items or mismatches and inconsistencies in dietary variables. Results: Only 1.5% (339/22564) and 60.71% (6765/11144) participants reported their information using the Web-based version for Q_0 and Q_10, respectively, and 51.40 % (11598/22564) and 100.00% (11144/11144) of participants who completed the Q_0 and Q_10, respectively, had the option of choosing the Web-based version. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, health characteristics, food consumption, and energy and nutrient intakes were similar among participants, according to the type of questionnaire used in Q_10. Less than 0.5% of values were missing for items related to healthy eating attitudes, alcohol consumption, and personality traits in the Web-based questionnaires. The proportion of missing data in FFQ, leisure time physical activity, and other activities was higher in paper-based questionnaires than Web-based questionnaires. In Web-based questionnaires, a high degree of internal consistency was found when comparing answers that should not be contradictory, such as the frequency of fruit as dessert versus total fruit consumption and the frequency of fried food consumptions versus oil consumption. Conclusions: Incorporating a Web-based version for a baseline and 10-year questionnaire has not implicated a loss of data quality in this cohort of highly educated adults. Younger participants showed greater preference for Web-based questionnaires. Web-based questionnaires were filled out to a greater extent and with less missing items than paper-based questionnaires. Further research is needed to optimize data collection and response rate in Web-based questionnaires.

Since, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is voluntary in most countries around the world, including New Zealand, therefore firms often engage in socially irresponsible practices. Punitive measures associated with irresponsible corporate behaviour e.g. WorldCom (2002), Air New Zealand (2007), British Petroleum (BP) (2010), Volkswagen (VW) (2015), and Wells Fargo (2016), coupled with global institutional pressure (UN peace compact), have driven CSR to a high enough profile that many (i.e. stakeholders) today now consider it a necessity for firms to define their roles in society and to adhere to social, ethical, legal and responsible standards. In terms of CSR adherence, firms use a variety of corporate governance (CG) arrangements, meaning that questions around CG-CSR interfaces are pertinent for further research. Despite the global importance and heightened awareness of CSR adaption, CG-CSR interfaces in the New Zealand context remained under researched. Therefore, exploring CG-CSR interfaces is of important, not only for advancing knowledge but also for policy development in New Zealand. More specifically, this research answers the following two questions (i) what is the relationship between CG and CSR? and (ii) How are CG and CSR integrated in an organisational context? To do, this research employs mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods, comprised of two phases. In the first phase, face-to-face interviews were conducted with managers from CSR champion New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) listed firms. The interviews were designed to test the CG-CSR relationship in actual company settings and to develop a CG-CSR integrated framework. In the second stage, this research empirically tested the proposed CG-CSR integrated framework obtained in the first phase through a survey conducted with senior leadership of all NZX listed companies using the Multiple- Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique (i.e. Analytical Hierarchal Process). Although this research identifies three potential conjectures relating to the CG-CSR relationship in New Zealand; (i) CSR as a pillar of CG, (ii) CSR as a dimension of CG and (iii) CG-CSR co-existence, but it is noted that ‘CG as a pillar of CSR’ was highlighted by respondents as having particular significance. This implies that effective CG promote firms CSR practices, supporting the stakeholder theory. In response to the second research question, this research draws a six-stage CG-CSR integrated framework based on stakeholder theory, that identifies, (i) key stakeholders who actively seek management attention for CSR, (ii) main CG actors who plan and develop CSR strategies, (iii) appropriate CG channels to implement CSR, (iv) principal CSR activities (v) existing benchmarks for CSR performance evaluation, (vi) preferred communication channels to report firms’ commitment to CSR principals, and discusses the convergence between these stages. The research further empirically tests and validates the CG-CSR integrated framework using result from the quantitative survey collected from senior management from NZX listed firms. In addition, the Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP) technique is used to prioritise the factors of each stage of the established CG-CSR integrated framework. As a pioneer research in the New Zealand context, the findings are valuable for academics, regulators, practitioners and other stakeholders (i.e. investors, shareholders, customers, and community groups) interested in understanding the CG-CSR nexus and promoting responsible business practices. More specifically, the findings offer researchers a framework to analyse the CG-CSR relationship. For regulators, identification and reporting of the lived experiences of corporate managers provide insight into their understanding of the CG-CSR relationship and integration, thereby assisting them to develop policies which promote responsible business practices. For practitioners, the proposed framework provides systematic guidance for firms seeking to adopt formal CSR programmes. The findings of this research are also beneficial for stakeholders who not only influence but also drive CSR practices.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of a questionnaire designed for the identification of intraoral pain with neuropathic characteristics in a clinical orofacial pain sample population. Methods: 136 participants with 4 orofacial pain diagnoses (temporomandibular disorders [TMD, n=41], acute dental pain [ADP, n=41], trigeminal neuralgia (TN, n=19), persistent dentoalveolar pain disorder [PDAP, n=14]) and a group of pain-free controls (n=21) completed the modified S-LANSS, an adaptation of the original questionnaire devised to detected patients suffering from intraoral pain with neuropathic characteristics. Psychometric properties (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], negative predictive value [NPV]) were calculated in two analyses with two different thresholds: 1) Detection of pain with neuropathic characteristics: PDAP + TN were considered positive, and TMD + ADP + controls were considered negative per gold standard (expert opinion). 2) Detection of PDAP: PDAP was considered positive and TMD + ADP were considered negative per gold standard. For both analyses, target values for adequate accuracy were defined as ≥80% for sensitivity and specificity. Results: For detection of orofacial pain with neuropathic characteristics (PDAP + TN), the modified S-LANSS presented with the most optimistic threshold sensitivity of 52% (95% CI: 34-69%), specificity of 70% (95% CI: 60-79%), PPV of 35% (95% CI: 22-51%), and NPV of 82% (95% CI: 72-89%). For detection of PDAP only, with the most optimistic threshold sensitivity was 64% (95% CI: 35-87%), specificity 63% (95% CI: 52-74%), PPV 23% (95% CI: 11-39%) and NPV 91% (95% CI: 81-97%). Conclusion: Based on a priori defined criteria, the modified S-LANSS did not show adequate accuracy to detect intraoral pain with neuropathic characteristics in a clinical orofacial pain population.