Attitudes and opinions of chiropractic teaching staff towards methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion

• Main Author: Miller, Peter
• Published: University of Portsmouth 2009
• Subjects: 615.5340711
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.500338

The aim of this study was to investigate the different methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion and the appropriateness of teaching them in a modern undergraduate chiropractic curriculum. The study consisted of three parts and utilised a mixed mode, sequential explanatory design. In part 1, a survey was sent to chiropractic teaching institutions worldwide to elicit the methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion that were taught. Part 2 utilised a survey of chiropractic staff at the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) to elicit their opinions regarding the methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion that were appropriate to teach at a local institution level. The combined results from parts 1 and 2 were used to inform the areas of discussion for part 3 of the study as well as inform participant selection for the focus groups. For part 3, two focus groups were conducted to explore the attitudes that informed the opinions elicited in the survey (part 2) as well as exploring the development of the curriculum at AECC regarding methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion. This study demonstrates that chiropractic teaching institutions are moving towards a coherent multidimensional approach to teaching methods of detecting the spinal manipulable lesion. The study also highlights the importance of developing a paradigm for what constitutes the spinal manipulable lesion, so as to guide students and ultimately clinicians in evidence-based and patient-centred approaches. This study has provided a starting point for the development of this paradigm both in terms of the methods of detection of the spinal manipulable lesion that are appropriate to teach at an undergraduate level and ways to develop the curriculum at the AECC that will encourage the next generation of chiropractors to reflect on the clinical utility of the procedures they use in everyday clinical practice.