Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Practice Analysis Task Force
- Introduction
- Results Related to Professional Background, Work Setting and Demographic Information
- Results Related to Domains, Tasks and Knowledge and Skill Statements
- Domain Ratings
- Task Ratings
- Knowledge and Skills Ratings
- Results Related to Practice Areas and Devices
- Highlights
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Practice Analysis of Certified Technicians in the Disciplines of Orthotics and Prosthetics
January 2017
Results Related to Professional Background, Work Setting and Demographic Information
This section provides background information regarding the sample of ABC Certified Technicians. The survey included a questionnaire regarding professional history, work environment, educational background and demographic information.
As shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3, the overall sample responding to the survey was predominantly male, between 35 and 64 years old and White or Caucasian. This demographic picture of the sample is quite consistent with the certified technicians in the ABC database.
Comparatively, the 2009 survey indicated a female population of 9%, a mean age of 42 years and predominately of White or Caucasian ethnicity.
Table 1
| Female | 7% |
| Male | 90% |
| Prefer not to answer | 3% |
| Total | 100% |
Table 2
| Under 25 | 1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16% |
| 35 to 44 | 21% |
| 45 to 54 | 39% |
| 55 to 64 | 19% |
| 65 or over | 2% |
| Did not answer | 2% |
| Total | 100% |
Table 3
| American Indian or Alaska Native | <1% |
| Asian | 2% |
| Black or African American | 2% |
| Hispanic or Latino/Latina | 2% |
| White or Caucasian | 86% |
| More than one racial or ethnic background | 1% |
| Other | 2% |
| Prefer not to answer | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
As shown in Table 4, more than half of the respondents indicated their highest level of education was high school or the equivalent and either O/P short-term courses or an O/P technician certificate. About 20% had an associate’s degree and almost 15% had a bachelor’s degree.
Table 4
| HS/GED | 12% |
| HS/GED and O/P short-term courses | 8% |
| HS/GED and O/P technician certificate | 43% |
| AA/AS | 6% |
| AA/AS in O/P | 14% |
| BA/BS | 14% |
| Master’s degree (MA, MS, MBA, etc.) | 2% |
| Other | 1% |
As seen in Table 5, respondents were very experienced, with an average of nearly 20 years of technician experience for respondents from both disciplines.
Table 5
| Mean |
| 19.6 |
Respondents worked across a range of settings, with the greatest proportion in a privately-owned, multi-facility orthotics and/or prosthetics practice (34%), followed by central fabrication facility (16%) then hospital or rehabilitation center (15%), as shown in Table 6.
Table 6
| Part of a multi-facility orthotics and/or prosthetics practice, publicly owned | 15% |
| Part of a multi-facility orthotics and/or prosthetics practice, privately owned | 34% |
| Single-location orthotics and/or prosthetics practice, privately owned | 10% |
| Hospital or rehabilitation center | 15% |
| University-based clinic or facility | 4% |
| Academic or educational institution (teaching/research) | <1% |
| Central fabrication facility | 16% |
| Other | 6% |
| Total | 100% |
As shown in Table 7, the great majority of respondents (82%) were employees. Those writing in Other responses were generally managers.
Table 7
| Employee of single location orthotics and/or prosthetics practice | 25% |
| Employee of a multi-facility orthotics and/or prosthetics practice | 50% |
| Employee of fabrication company | 7% |
| Owner of fabrication company | 8% |
| Other | 10% |
| Total | 100% |
Tables 8 and 9 show the percentage of work time respondents spent in various roles. As can be seen, both orthotic and prosthetic respondents indicated they spent the majority of their work time in the fabrication role for their respective disciplines (63% of time for orthotics respondents and 57% of time for prosthetic); it can also be seen that both orthotic and prosthetic respondents also spent some work time in the fabrication role in the other discipline. Respondents also spent just under 10% of their work time in the clinical patient care role, either under supervision or unsupervised. Respondents spent about 12% to 14% of their time in an administrative role, and very little time (3%) in a patient education role.
Table 8
| Orthotic fabrication | 63% |
| Clinical orthotic patient care under direct supervision | 3% |
| Clinical orthotic patient care, unsupervised | 4% |
| Prosthetic fabrication | 9% |
| Clinical prosthetic patient care under direct supervision | 1% |
| Clinical prosthetic patient care, unsupervised | <1% |
| Patient education | 3% |
| Administration/office management/inventory and supply management | 14% |
| Other | 3% |
| Total | 100% |
Table 9
| Prosthetic fabrication | 57% |
| Clinical prosthetic patient care under direct supervision | 4% |
| Clinical prosthetic patient care, unsupervised | 3% |
| Orthotic fabrication | 17% |
| Clinical orthotic patient care under direct supervision | 1% |
| Clinical orthotic patient care, unsupervised | 2% |
| Patient education | 3% |
| Administration/office management/inventory and supply management | 12% |
| Other | 1% |
| Total | 100% |
Respondents typically worked in locations with one to five other technicians, as shown in Table 10.
Table 10
| 1-5 | 71% |
| 6-10 | 17% |
| 11-15 | 9% |
| 16 or more | 3% |
| Total | 100% |
Most respondents (56%) worked in locations with one to five practitioners, as shown in Table 11, although about 10% worked in locations with no practitioners.
Table 11
| 0 | 10% |
| 1-5 | 56% |
| 6-10 | 18% |
| 11-15 | 8% |
| 16 or more | 8% |
| Total | 100% |
A number of respondents held other ABC credentials, including certified assistants (COA, CPA and CPOA), fitters (CFo, CFm, CFom and CFts), and practitioners (CO, CP and CPO).
Table 12
| Certified Technician-Orthotic (CTO) | 26% |
| Certified Technician-Prosthetic (CTP) | 43% |
| Certified Technician-Prosthetic Orthotic (CTPO) | 31% |
| Certified Orthotic Assistant (COA) | 5% |
| Certified Prosthetic Assistant (CPA) | 16% |
| Certified Prosthetic Orthotic Assistant (CPOA) | 5% |
| Certified Pedorthist (C.Ped.) | 2% |
| Certified Orthotist (CO) | 8% |
| Certified Prosthetist (CP) | 1% |
| Certified Prosthetist-Orthotist (CPO) | 3% |
| Certified Fitter-orthotics (CFo) | 10% |
| Certified Fitter-mastectomy (CFm) | <1% |
| Certified Fitter-orthotics and mastectomy (CFom) | <1% |
| Certified Fitter-therapeutic shoes (CFts) | <1% |
As can be seen in Table 13, more than 20% of orthoses and prostheses incorporated CAD/CAM, with a slightly higher percentage of prosthetic respondents than orthotic respondents indicating they incorporated CAD/CAM in fabrication.
Table 13
| Orthotics | Prosthetics | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| 21% | 24% | 23% |
The percentage of orthoses and prostheses fabricated onsite versus at a central fabrication facility is shown in Tables 14 and 15. As can be seen, a higher percentage of prostheses were fabricated onsite than were orthoses (87% versus 72%, respectively).
Table 14
| Onsite | 72% |
| Central Fabrication | 23% |
| Not Applicable | 5% |
Table 15
| Onsite | 87% |
| Central Fabrication | 10% |
| Not Applicable | 3% |
