Outcome Measures in Chiropractic Research: How Do We Choose?

Outcome assessment can support the therapeutic process by providing a way to track symptoms and functionality over time, providing insights to clinicians and patients, as well as offering a common language to discuss patient behavior/functioning. The integration of such measures not only informs therapy, but can also inform programmatic decisions as well as further the field of chiropractic health care research. Outcome measures therefore are both a research tool and an aid to patient care. In this paper we examine the measures that have been used to measure outcomes in chiropractic and suggest those measures that are feasible, practical, economical, reliable, valid and responsive to clinical change. Such an assessment however requires that we know both the purpose of the instrument and the theories that underlie it. The paper also examines the nature of these theories and reviews the current measures.