Abstract
Background: There is limited research on chiropractic professional subgroups in South Africa. The chiropractic profession has a long history of diversified professional subgroups which have varying ideologies and practice styles. The three hypothesised subgroups are, neuromusculoskeletal focused subgroups, “vertebral subluxation” fo-cused and lastly general primary care focused.
Aim: The primary aim of this research study was to investigate the three different subgroups within the chiropractic profession in South Africa.
Methods: This was a quantitative study conducted using a self-administered ideol-ogy and practice behaviour questionnaire, which was modified for South African de-mographics. The questionnaire was distributed via an email link to registered chiro-practors in South Africa through the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) and Chiropractic Association of South Africa (CASA).
Procedure: The AHPCSA and CASA sent out emails with information about the study, the researchers, and a link to an anonymous survey that could be completed using Question Pro.
Results: A total of 12.33% (n=119) completed surveys were received from an esti-mated 965 chiropractors in respective provinces. Respondents self-identified into three distinct subgroups based on the ideology and practice behaviour questionnaire with 77.1% being spine/neuromusculoskeletal focused, 18.6% primary care focused; and 4.2% vertebral subluxation focused.
Conclusion: The research determined the prevalence of the three different types of subgroups within the chiropractic profession in South Africa and revealed that the majority of chiropractors self-identified as spine and neuromusculoskeletal sub-groups (77.1%) and the minority self-identified as either the general primary care (18.6%) or the subluxation focused subgroups (4.2%). This suggests that the chiro-practic profession in South Africa practices within the paradigm of evidence-based
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practice with no notable disparities in the ideologies and practicing styles of chiro-practors when looking at their age, university attended or highest qualification.