1. Prevalence and practice characteristics of urban and rural or remote Australian chiropractors: Analysis of a nationally representative sample of 1830 chiropractors.
- Author
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Adams, Jon, Luca, Katie, Swain, Michael, Funabashi, Martha, Wong, Arnold, Pagé, Isabelle, Sibbritt, David, and Peng, Wenbo
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ELDER care , *ANALYSIS of variance , *ABORIGINAL Australians , *BIOMECHANICS , *CHI-squared test , *CHIROPRACTIC , *STATISTICAL correlation , *HEALTH services accessibility , *ORTHOPEDIC apparatus , *MEDICAL practice , *METROPOLITAN areas , *POPULATION geography , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *RESEARCH funding , *RURAL conditions , *RURAL health , *STATISTICS , *T-test (Statistics) , *URBAN health , *EMPLOYEES' workload , *LOGISTIC regression analysis , *HEALTH of indigenous peoples , *OCCUPATIONAL roles , *DISEASE prevalence , *CROSS-sectional method , *DATA analysis software , *CHIROPRACTORS , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *PSYCHOLOGY ,TREATMENT of musculoskeletal system diseases - Abstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence and clinical management characteristics of chiropractors practising in urban and rural or remote Australia. Design: A cross‐sectional analysis of the Australian Chiropractic Research Network project data. Setting: Nationally representative sample of registered chiropractors practising in Australia. Participants: Chiropractors who participated in the Australian Chiropractic Research Network project and answered a question about practising in urban or rural or remote areas in the practitioner questionnaire. Main outcome measure: The demographics, practice characteristics and clinical management of chiropractors. Results: The majority of chiropractors indicated that they practise in urban areas only, while 22.8% (n = 435) practice in rural or remote areas only and 4.0% (n = 77) practice in both urban and rural or remote areas. Statistically significant predictors of chiropractors who practice in rural or remote areas, as compared to urban areas, included more patient visits per week, practising in more than one location, no imaging facilities on site, often treating degenerative spinal conditions or migraine, often treating people aged over 65 years, frequently treating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and frequently using biomechanical pelvic blocking or the sacro‐occipital technique. Conclusion: A substantial number of chiropractors practice in rural or remote Australia and these rural or remote‐based chiropractors are more likely to treat a wide range of musculoskeletal cases and include an Indigenously diverse group of patients than their urban‐located colleagues. Unique practice challenges for rural or remote chiropractors include a higher workload and a lack of diagnostic tools. Chiropractors should be acknowledged and considered within rural or remote health care policy and service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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