Physical therapy students attitudes' toward chiropractic

Currently there appears to be tension between the professions of physical therapy and chiropractic. There is a lack of literature about the tension between these two professions; however, some of the research done in 1987 describes the competition between physical therapists and chiropractors. In an effort to understand this tension and add to the existing literature, a qualitative study was completed to explore the attitudes' of physical therapy students toward chiropractic.

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with physical therapy students from a small private college in upstate New York. Interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed through constant-comparative analysis to identify five emergent themes.

The themes included: no definitive attitude toward chiropractic; lack of information about chiropractic; awareness of the tension between chiropractic and physical therapy; chiropractic as a “temporary fix”; and, the influence of family and friends on their views of chiropractic. Based on the study results several recommendations were made regarding the research as well as ideas for future research.

Future research recommendations included: exploring chiropractic students attitudes' toward physical therapy; examining PT professors attitudes' about chiropractic; and, examining the extent to which PT professors have an influence on students' attitudes.