 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Monica Smith, DC, PhD and Elaine C. Morschhauser, DC. Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, 741 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52803
Introduction: Comprehensive approaches to wellness-oriented chiropractic healthcare provision include discipline-specific (e.g. “maintenance care”) and cross-disciplinary care such as general preventive measures. We examined the congruence between chiropractic practice and AHCPR’s multidisciplinary preventive care guidelines, “Putting Prevention into Practice”.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 2 separate samples of U.S. chiropractors: 1) a simple random sample (SRS sample) of 2,500 DCs, and 2) a clustered random sample of 2,531 DCs (CTS sample). A subset of each sample (SRS subsetted n=215; CTS subsetted n=199) received a 12-item questionnaire on the perceived relevance and legitimacy of the Physical Activity Counseling guidelines (US Preventive Services Task Force), and about the impact of such guidelines on their practice.
Results: Data entry and phone follow-up are still underway. As of the abstract submission deadline, preliminary data were available for n=27 of the SRS sample and n=18 of the CTS sample. Thus far, results from the SRS and CTS samples appear consistent, and are summarized below. Generally, DCs agree that Guidelines for Physical Activity are:
Based on sound scientific evidence, should be applied in practice, and are consistent with their current clinical practice (over 90%) Could positively impact reimbursements or inclusion in managed care (over 65%) Beneficial, and consistent with state laws governing chiropractic (over 80%)
However, most respondent DCs (over 50%) report that they do not currently use the Clinician's Handbook in actual practice.
Discussion: Presentation will discuss ways to improve use of multidisciplinary preventive guidelines in chiropractic practice, since many chiropractors express receptivity to the idea.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Chiropractic, Primary Prevention
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.