None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Chiropractic care is currently being provided by chiropractic Interns, under supervision, to residents of Palmerston Farm a therapeutic community, with this service having been provided to date for over 4 years. This study will measure the outcomes of this service in terms of students’ perception of the service and residents’ satisfaction with care and treatment outcomes. All eligible participants (interns and residents of Palmerston Farm) will be provided an Information Sheet concerning the project and will be required to provide written informed consent prior to participation in the study. Volunteers for the treatment part of the study will undergo a standard case history and physical examination, including a relevant orthopaedic evaluation and consent to procedures. Patients that do not demonstrate any contradictions to chiropractic care (manual and manipulative therapy) will then enter the study and undergo chiropractic care, as required. Treatment will consist of conservative care such as manual and manipulative therapy, soft tissue therapy, exercise prescription and rehabilitation programmes, applied based on the presentation of the patient. Treatment will be provided on a weekly basis to those residents (patients) that volunteer for the study, over a 6-week period. Hence, each participating patient will typically receive 6 treatments over a 6-week period. Participants in the control group will anonymously complete PSQ and R-36 forms. Data will be collected at baseline and at the end of each participant course of treatment, or after six visits whichever is sooner, using the stated outcome measures; PSQ and RAND-36. Data will be collected from the participating chiropractic Interns at the end of their outreach programme at Palmerston Farm; using a modified SPSLE. The questionnaires used for this data collection will be provided online using the so called 'SurveyMonkey' tool. No identifiable risks or problems are anticipated to arise as a result of the implementation of this study, beyond the usual issues that may be encountered when offering this care in the context of a substance misuse recovery facility.
Interventions
Arm 1: Usual chiropractic care (a package of manual and manipulative therapy) (Experimental Group) Duration and frequency of treatment; 1 x 20 minute chiropractic session per week for 6 weeks. Administered by chiropractic interns. Treatment will consist of a package of conservative care that usually includes manual and manipulative therapy, soft tissue therapy, exercise prescription and rehabilitation programmes, at the discretion of the practitioner and based on the clinical presentation of the
Arm 1: Usual chiropractic care (a package of manual and manipulative therapy) (Experimental Group) Duration and frequency of treatment; 1 x 20 minute chiropractic session per week for 6 weeks. Administered by chiropractic interns. Treatment will consist of a package of conservative care that usually includes manual and manipulative therapy, soft tissue therapy, exercise prescription and rehabilitation programmes, at the discretion of the practitioner and based on the clinical presentation of the patient. Arm 2: Usual care (Comparison Group) Usual care for spinal pain which may include medication and/or advice and is provided by practising General Practitioners in a standard medical practice setting. Arm 3: Chiropractic Interns (5th year undergraduate students) at Murdoch University. Students will be surveyed after they have completed the placement on their attitudes toward the placement and community service. This arm of the study involves the intern/student completing online a series of questions about the educational benefit along with the attitudes of the intern toward community service.
Sponsors
Murdoch University
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Experimental Groups: 1.Residents of therapeutic community who volunteer for the study and provide informed consent to receive usual chiropractic care who are suffering from spinal pain. 2.Chiropractic Interns (5th year undergraduate students) Control Group: Residents of therapeutic community who volunteer for the study and provide informed consent and receive usual medical care for spinal pain.
Exclusion criteria
No – all participants will be receiving at least usual care for spinal pain
Outcome results
None listed