Attitudes of chiropractors to evidence-based practice and how this compares to other healthcare professionals: A qualitative study

摘要

Introduction: Evidence-based practice is now becoming accepted as the standard modality in the NHS and the allied healthcare professions. This study explores chiropractors' attitudes towards EBP, the barriers they face and how this compares to other professions.Methods: Seven field chiropractors were interviewed by the author; the interviews were semi-structured, audio recorded and later transcribed. These transcriptions were systematically evaluated using a data analysis software package to identify thematic categories in the chiropractors' narratives.Results: Research was considered to be an integral part of the future of the profession by all; however, the influence that research has upon daily practice was perceived to be limited. Sourcing research was not routinely undertaken and the ability and confidence to evaluate research was low. Current research was deemed to lack true representation of many clinical experiences and therefore was considered not relevant to practice life in many aspects.Conclusion: This study does not show these chiropractors to be anymore disadvan-taged to certain other healthcare professionals in educational skills when considering EBP. Nor does it show that these chiropractors are, in theory, less willing to adopt an EBP than other healthcare professions. They are similar to their counterparts in terms of not bearing this out on occasions. However, a larger study would have to be carried out to establish if these chiropractors are representative of the wider chiropractic profession before similarities could be draw between chiropractors and other healthcare professionals.