Student Presenter(s): Kole Nikprelaj, Abraham Adriel, Syed Faiz, Khalid Aziz-ur-rahman, Jacob Thomas
Faculty Mentor: Milan Toma
School/College: Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury

This study analyzes palpation accuracy and pressure differences among OMS I and OMS II students, who learn to diagnose somatic dysfunctions through palpation and identifying musculoskeletal irregularities. A Princess and the Pea test was adapted to assess accuracy and force in palpation. Students located a coin randomly placed under stacks of paper ranging from 100-300 (in increments of 50) while sensors measured their applied force. The study with 12 OMS students (6 of each OMS I and II) showed a link between palpation force and paper stack number. The best accuracy was in the 250-stack group, with similar outcomes for 100- and 300-stacks. All students used equal pressure at their max limit of 8.81 PSI on the largest stack size, but the statistical analysis did not differentiate precision or pressure among groups. As the number of paper stacks increased, palpation force also increased linearly for both OMS I and OMS II. This aligns with previous studies linking the depth of structure being palpated to an increase in pressure used. In the 300-stack group, maximum pressure was consistently applied as found in past research on deeper structures. Accuracy was highest for the 250-stack group while no significant difference was noted between OMS I and OMS II regarding the accuracy or palpation pressure via statistical analysis. These findings suggest that additional training may benefit osteopathic student physicians at all levels of study concerning palpatory skills.