Abstract
Background: Even though western mounted games (WMG) is a young and unknown
discipline compared to Olympic-level disciplines, such as show jumping, dressage,
and eventing, it is fast growing in popularity. It is unique to South Africa, but effort is
being made to introduce the discipline abroad. No research exists on the amount of
knowledge, the use, or the perception of chiropractic within the WMG population.
Aim: The primary aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge,
perception, and utilisation of chiropractic of competitive WMG horseback riders in
South Africa. The secondary aim was to determine where respondents acquired their
knowledge.
Method: The study was a cross-sectional, quantitative, and exploratory study that
utilised a self-administered survey on the Google Forms platform. The research was
conducted among the WMG horseback riders in South Africa.
Procedure: The national and provincial secretaries of the South African Western
Mounted Games Association (SAWMGA) distributed the survey link to the members.
The platforms used for distribution were email and the provincial WhatsApp groups.
Results: The survey had 103 responses. The majority of the respondents were female
and competed for Gauteng province.
The majority of respondents (n = 52) respondents reported moderate knowledge of
chiropractic and thought chiropractors perform joint manipulation during a treatment.
When asked what conditions the participants thought chiropractors could help with,
the two most popular choices were back pain (n = 98) and neck pain (n = 96). The
majority (n = 68) respondents became familiar with chiropractic by being treated by a
chiropractor.
The majority of respondents did not have concerns about chiropractic (n = 53) and
thought that it was not dangerous (n = 80).
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The majority of respondents (n = 79) had been treated by a chiropractor before. Of
those that had visited a chiropractor before, most had visited the chiropractor more
than 10 times. The most treated conditions were back pain (n = 62) and neck pain (n
= 49).
When age and the origin of their knowledge were compared, the younger respondents
learnt more from social media than their older counterparts. When the level of
competition and the number of times they visited the chiropractor were compared, no
statistical significance was found.
Conclusion: Overall, the level of knowledge about chiropractic was good, the
perception toward chiropractic was positive, and the level of utilisation was high
compared with similar studies within other population groups.
The majority of respondents gained their knowledge from word-of-mouth and patient
education.