Abstract
M.Tech.
The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness, which is the
knowledge, usage, need and attitude, towards the chiropractic profession in
the black population of South Africa in the East Rand in Daveyton.
The study was conducted as a qualitative survey study, where two hundred
and fifty research questionnaires were randomly distributed to two hundred
and fifty participants who met the inclusion criteria for the study.
The inclusion criteria were that subjects had to be 18 years of age and older,
were of black ethnicity, had to be living in Daveyton in the East Rand, and
were not involved in any chiropractic practices.
All the participants were requested to take part in an interview, and the
questionnaire was completed by the researcher.
The questionnaire had two sections, section A testing the participants
biographic information, and section B, which tested the participants
knowledge of chiropractic and the services it rendered. Each questionnaire
took about 20 minutes to complete.
The response rate was ninety nine point nine percent, with two hundred and
fifty questionnaires distributed, and two hundred and fourty nine
questionnaires completed.
The results demonstrated that only 17.1% within this section of the South
African population had any knowledge of what chiropractic is, and 68.4% of
the respondents had not utilized the services of a chiropractor.
The majority of the participants in the study were males, at 53.4%, and the
ages ranged between 19 and 81, with the majority of the participants being
between the ages of 19-20, 1 0.8%.
The employment status of the participants ranged between 32.9% of the
participants being full time employed, and 30.5% of the participants were
unemployed seeking employment.
The educational status of the participants showed that 37.5% had a grade
twelve qualification, and 31.9% had a post school certificate/ diploma or
degree.
The participants in the study were also not certain of what the job description
of a chiropractor was, with 41.3% of the participants describing a
chiropractor's work being similar to that of a General Practitioner, and 22.2%
to a massage therapist.
The referral mode of the participants demonstrated most of the participants
were referred by a friend or family member who had consulted with a
chiropractor, followed by their General Practitioner.
The participants showed that they would like to have a chiropractor in their
living or working area, 88.8% of the participants.
The researcher therefore concluded, from the results of the study, that the
black South African population in Daveyton on the East Rand had very little
knowledge of chiropractic as a profession, and more educational efforts were
needed to inform this sector of the South African population.
It is recommended that future studies be undertaken in a different section of
South Africa, with a larger black participant population size, to determine if
there is a lack of awareness of chiropractic throughout South Africa, as the
findings in
the study was not representative of the South African black population as a
whole.