Evidence-based Practice

Discussion Paper: Evidence-Based Practice and Chiropractic

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Chiropractic Journal of Australia 2016; 44: 308–319 ~ FULL TEXT

Phillip Ebrall

Southern Cross University, Australia;
International Medical University, Malaysia;
Tokyo College of Chiropractic, Japan.

Objective:   To present an objective interpretation of the literature reporting evidence based medicine or practice and to raise discussion points based on those findings which, if explored, may advance the chiropractic profession in both its academic and clinical activities.

Data Sources and Synthesis:   The indexed literature and URLs identified by on-line searching. A contextual narrative identifies specific points that may be worthy of formal discussion, either by individual authors preparing papers for publication, or by symposia.

Conclusion:   Evidence based medicine is thought by some to have had its day. The concept of best practice seems embedded within chiropractic education. Whether they appreciate it or not, most chiropractors practice a rich form of evidence based practice into which they inject their experience as a chiropractor and the characteristics including preferences of the patient.

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Evidence-based Practice, Research Utilization, and Knowledge Translation in Chiropractic:
A Scoping Review

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SOURCE:   BMC Complement Altern Med. 2016 (Jul 13); 16 (1): 216

André E. Bussières, Fadi Al Zoubi, Kent Stuber,
Simon D. French, Jill Boruff, John Corrigan,
and Aliki Thomas

School of Physical and Occupational Therapy,
Faculty of Medicine,
McGill University,
Montréal, Canada.

BACKGROUND:   Evidence-based practice (EBP) gaps are widespread across health disciplines. Understanding factors supporting the uptake of evidence can inform the design of strategies to narrow these EBP gaps. Although research utilization (RU) and the factors associated with EBP have been reported in several health disciplines, to date this area has not been reviewed comprehensively in the chiropractic profession. The purpose of this review was to report on the current state of knowledge on EBP, RU, and knowledge translation (KT) in chiropractic.

METHODS:   A scoping review using the Arksey and O’Malley framework was used to systematically select and summarize existing literature. Searches were conducted using a combination of keywords and MeSH terms from the earliest date available in each database to May 2015. Quantitative and thematic analyses of the selected literature were conducted.

RESULTS:   Nearly 85% (56/67) of the included studies were conducted in Canada, USA, UK or Australia. Thematic analysis for the three categories (EBP, RU, KT) revealed two themes related to EBP (attitudes and beliefs of chiropractors; implementation of EBP), three related to RU (guideline adherence; frequency and sources of information accessed; and perceived value of websites and search engines), and three related to KT (knowledge practice gaps; barriers and facilitators to knowledge use; and selection, tailoring, and implementation of interventions). EBP gaps were noted in the areas of assessment of activity limitation, determination of psychosocial factors influencing pain, general health indicators, establishing a prognosis, and exercise prescription. While most practitioners believed EBP and research to be important and a few studies suggested that traditional and online educational strategies could improve patient care, use of EBP and guideline adherence varied widely.

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How to Proceed When Evidence-based Practice Is Required But Very Little Evidence Available?

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SOURCE:   Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2013 (Jul 10); 21 (1): 24 ~ FULL TEXT

Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde, Olivier Lanlo and Bruce F Walker

The Spine Research Centre,
Hospital Lillebaelt, and Institute for Regional Health Research,
University of Southern Denmark,
Middelfart, Denmark.
clyde@health.sdu.dk

BACKGROUND:   All clinicians of today know that scientific evidence is the base on which clinical practice should rest. However, this is not always easy, in particular in those disciplines, where the evidence is scarce. Although the last decades have brought an impressive production of research that is of interest to chiropractors, there are still many areas such as diagnosis, prognosis, choice of treatment, and management that have not been subjected to extensive scrutiny.

DISCUSSION:   In this paper we argue that a simple system consisting of three questions will help clinicians deal with some of the complexities of clinical practice, in particular what to do when clear clinical evidence is lacking. Question 1 asks: are there objectively tested facts to support the concept? Question 2: are the concepts that form the basis for this clinical act or decision based on scientifically acceptable concepts? And question three; is the concept based on long-term and widely accepted experience? This method that we call the “Traffic Light System” can be applied to most clinical processes.

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