Meaning and challenges in the practice of multiple therapeutic massage modalities: a combined methods study

Table 2 Demographic characteristics, and comparison to past surveys

Question	Category	This Survey	NHPC [6]	CMTO[5]	AMTA [15]	X ² (df), significance
Practitioner gender (%)	Male	8.3	14.1	17	15	3.562 (3), p < 0.313
	Female	91.7	85.9	83	85
Years in practice (mean years)		8.3 (s.d. 6.2) (range: 0 to 37 yrs)	NP*	5.5	7	0.566 (2), p = 0.753
Mean Hours Worked with client (mean hours)		20.5 (sd: 11.6, range 2 to 80)	18.2	18.9	20	0.168 (3) p = 0.983
Top three work settings: Total/Primary** (%)	Private clinic	44.0/32.2	41.8/NP*	46/NP*	NC*	3.59(4), p = 0.464
	Home clinic	34.3/29.7	42.2/NP*	25/NP*	NC*
	Outcalls	29.7/8.6	32.1/NP*	29/NP*	NC*
Municipality size (%)	Rural/small town settings (under 50,000)	38.8	NC*	NP*	NP*
	Small cities (50,000 to 100,000)	15.3	NC*	NP*	NP*
	Cities over 100,000 population	45.8	49.6	NP*	NP*	z test of proportions: z = 1.383; p = 0.168
Return rate (%)		15.1	39.4***	18.2	NP*	14.437 (2); p < 0.001

* NP = information not published; NC = information was published, but the categories were not compatible. ** "Total" is based on all places of work per practitioner, "primary" is a reduction to their single place of the most work. ***included follow-up phone calls to increase participation.

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