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OBJECTIVE: This study explored how chiropractic interns applied evidenced-based concepts, the sources of evidence they used, and how useful they perceived these sources to be in clinical decision making. METHODS: A questionnaire containing 13 items in a Likert 5-point scale was administered to 28 chiropractic interns to gather information on the evidence types they commonly accessed and their perceived usefulness of these sources in clinical decision making. The interns were in the 8th semester of the training program. RESULTS: There was a 93% (n = 26) response rate. Clinical guidelines were rated as the most helpful resource in clinical decision making (81%), followed by lecture materials (77%), journals (54%), databases (50%), and textbooks (35%). Students recognized scientific evidence as the most important aspect in clinical decision making. They found their personal experience and the views of their clinician to be equally important and patient preference the least. CONCLUSION: Interns routinely employed high-quality levels of evidence in clinical decision making. They also considered their early, limited clinical experience as important as that of their clinical supervisor in decision making. This finding should be investigated further.

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INTRODUCTION: Improving the quality of healthcare is a common goal of consumers, providers, payer groups, and governments. There is evidence that patient satisfaction influences the perceptions of the quality of care received. METHODS: This exploratory, qualitative study described and analyzed, the similarities and differences in satisfaction and dissatisfaction experiences of patients attending physicians (social justice) and chiropractors (market justice) for healthcare services in Niagara Region, Ontario. Using inductive content analysis the satisfaction and dissatisfaction experiences were themed to develop groups, categories, and sub-categories of quality judgments of care experiences. RESULTS: Study participants experienced both satisfying and dissatisfying critical incidents in the areas of standards of practice, professional and practice attributes, time management, and treatment outcomes. Cost was not a marked source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION: Patients may be more capable of generating quality judgments on the technical aspects of medical and chiropractic care, particularly treatment outcomes and standards of practice, than previously thought.

INTRODUCTION: L'amélioration de la qualité des soins de santé est un objectif commun pour les consommateurs, les fournisseurs de soins, les payeurs et les gouvernements. Il est prouvé que la satisfaction des patients influe sur la perception de la qualité des soins reçus. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Cette étude exploratoire et qualitative décrit et analyse les similitudes et les différences dans les expériences de satisfaction et d'insatisfaction des patients traités par des médecins (justice sociale) et des chiropraticiens (justice de marché) pour les services de soins de santé dans la région de Niagara, en Ontario. À l'aide d'analyses de contenu par raisonnement inductif, les expériences de satisfaction et d'insatisfaction ont été regroupées, catégorisées et sous-catégorisées par thème pour l'évaluation de la qualité de l'expérience de soins. RÉSULTATS: Les participants à l'étude ont connu des incidents critiques à la fois satisfaisants et insatisfaisants dans les domaines des normes de la pratique, des attributs professionnels et cliniques, de la gestion du temps, et des résultats du traitement. Le coût ne constituait pas une source importante de satisfaction ou d'insatisfaction. CONCLUSION: Les patients sont peut-être davantage en mesure de passer des jugements de qualité sur les aspects techniques des soins médicaux et chiropratiques, en particulier sur les résultats de traitement et les normes de la pratique, que l'on pensait auparavant.

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BACKGROUND: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) remains the most common deforming orthopedic condition in children. Increasingly, both adults and children are seeking complementary and alternative therapy, including chiropractic treatment, for a wide variety of health concerns. The scientific evidence supporting the use chiropractic intervention is inadequate. The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot study and explore issues of safety, patient recruitment and compliance, treatment standardization, sham treatment refinement, inter-professional cooperation, quality assurance, and outcome measure selection. METHODS: Six patients participated in this 6-month study, 5 of whom were female. One female was braced. The mean age of these patients was 14 years, and the mean Cobb angle was 22.2 degrees. The study design was a randomized controlled clinical trial with two independent and blinded observers. Three patients were treated by standard medical care (observation or brace treatment), two were treated with standard medical care plus chiropractic manipulation, and one was treated with standard medical care plus sham manipulation. The primary outcome measure was Cobb, and the psychosocial measure was Scoliosis Quality of Life Index. RESULTS: Orthopedic surgeons and chiropractors were easily recruited and worked cooperatively throughout the trial. Patient recruitment and compliance was good. Chiropractic treatments were safely employed, and research protocols were successful. CONCLUSION: Overall, our pilot study showed the viability for a larger randomized trial. This pilot confirms the strength of existing protocols with amendments for use in a full randomized controlled trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial has been assigned an international standard randomized controlled trial number by Current Controlled Trials, Ltd. http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/. The number is ISRCTN41221647.

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STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional design was used to evaluate the Scoliosis Quality of Life Index (SQLI). SQLI is a 22-item self-reporting health-related quality-of-life questionnaire for idiopathic scoliosis patients. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the psychometric qualities of SQLI. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: SQLI, a modification of the Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) questionnaire, is intended to be more applicable to patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) between 10 and 18 years of age. METHODS: Eighty-four subjects with a mean age of 14.9 years participated. We determined reliability, validity, distribution of scores, and clinical utility of SQLI in a hospital setting. Seventy patients were AIS patients (16 postsurgical, 30 braced, 24 unbraced) with a mean Cobb angle of 30.7 degrees, and 14 patients were sibling controls. RESULTS: Reliability: Intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability of the global index was very good (ICC 2,1 = 0.80); Spearman's rho correlations between items and domains was 0.39 to 0.89 and between domains and global index was 0.55 to 0.78; Cronbach's alpha scores were more than 0.80 (0.82-0.89). VALIDITY: construct validity was established by correlations between SQLI's global index and Quality of Life Profile for Spine Deformities (QLPSD) global index (Spearman's rho, 0.79) and between SQLI domains and QLPSD domains (0.46-0.81); discriminate validity was established by SQLI's global index successfully partitioned controls and AIS subjects (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.0013). Time required by the patient averaged 2.5 minutes per administration. CONCLUSIONS: SQLI is reliable and valid and demonstrates satisfactory distribution of scores. SQLI is a promising instrument in the assessment of AIS patients.

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BACKGROUND: There is limited outcome measure support for chiropractic manipulative therapy in the management of ankylosing spondylitis. An improvement in specific indices for both function and disease activity during chiropractic therapy for ankylosing spondylitis has not previously been reported. OBJECTIVE: To measure changes in function and disease activity in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis during a course of chiropractic therapy. The clinical management of ankylosing spondylitis, including chiropractic manipulative therapy and the implications of this case study are discussed. CLINICAL FEATURES: A 34-year-old male with a 10 year diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis sought chiropractic treatment for spinal pain and stiffness. His advanced radiographic signs included an increased atlantodental interspace and cervical vertebral ankylosis. INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME: The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), finger-tip-to-floor distance and chest expansion were assessed during an 18 week course of chiropractic spinal manipulation and mobilization therapy. There was a 90% improvement in the disease activity index and an 85% improvement in the functional index from the pre-treatment baseline, as measured by the BASDAI and BASFI respectively. Spinal flexibility and chest expansion also improved. CONCLUSION: To the authors knowledge this is the first study to incorporate ankylosing spondylitis specific indices, for both disease activity and function, to objectively support the use of chiropractic manipulative therapy in the management of ankylosing spondylitis. More intensive research is suggested.