BACKGROUND Most patients using alternative practitioners also receive care from physicians. It is unclear, however, how well alternative practitioners and physicians communicate and coordinate the care of shared patients. OBJECTIVE To describe the communication and coordination of care for shared patients between chiropractors and family physicians as well as potential barriers to effectively...

BACKGROUND The right to prescribe drugs remains a contentious issue within the chiropractic profession. Nevertheless, drug prescription by manual therapy providers is currently an important topic. Notably, physiotherapists in the United Kingdom were recently granted limited independent prescribing rights. Reports suggest that physiotherapists in Australia now want those same rights, and as such...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to provide new information that describes chiropractors' professional identity relative to their perceived clinical role as specialist or generalist. METHODS A pragmatic, descriptive, cross-sectional survey was performed of randomly sampled state-board licensed chiropractors in the United States during the period 2002-2003 to assess the chiropractors' p...

OBJECTIVES To explore the views of chiropractors about timely return-to-work in treating patients with musculoskeletal injuries, to identify the approaches used by chiropractors when treating injured workers with musculoskeletal disorders, and to learn about chiropractors' perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of successful return-to-work. DESIGN Qualitative study of 3 focus groups of...

BACKGROUND While the clinical role of manual therapies in migraine management is unclear, the use of chiropractors for this condition is considerable. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of chiropractors who frequently manage patients with migraine. METHODS A national cross-sectional survey of chiropractors collected information on practitioner characterist...

OBJECTIVES The Australian Chiropractic Research Network (ACORN) practice-based research network (PBRN) cohort was established to provide sustainable infrastructure necessary to address lack of rigorous investigation and to bridge the research-practice gap focused on chiropractic care for future years. This paper presents the profile of chiropractors recruited to the ACORN PBRN, a nationally rep...

OBJECTIVES COAST (Chiropractic Observation and Analysis Study) aimed to describe the clinical practices of chiropractors in Victoria, Australia. DESIGN Cross-sectional study using the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) methods for general practice. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS 180 chiropractors in active clinical practice in Victoria were randomly selected from the list of 1298...

BACKGROUND Several published surveys have shown that chiropractors are generally split in their opinions regarding the right to prescribe drugs in chiropractic practice. Many of these studies have been limited by low response rates, leaving the generalizability of their findings open to question. The aim of the current study was to ascertain the general attitudes of chiropractors in Ontario, Ca...

BACKGROUND Maintenance care (MC) is relatively commonly used among chiropractors. However, factual information is needed on its indications for use. OBJECTIVES This study had two objectives: 1) to describe which role patients' past history and treatment outcome play in chiropractors' decision to use MC in patients with low back pain, 2) to investigate if the chiropractors' clinical/educationa...

BACKGROUND The literature on chiropractic safety tends to focus on adverse events and little is known about how chiropractors ensure safety and manage risk in the course of their daily practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate how chiropractors manage potentially risky clinical scenarios. We also sought to establish how chiropractors perceive the safety climate in their workplace a...