A Survey Of Sports Certified Chiropractors And Multiple Disciplinary Care Verses General Chiropractic Practices
William J Moreau DC, DACBSP, CSCS, 3575 Hartsel Dr. Unit E # 414, Colorado Springs CO
OBJECTIVE: To identify the frequency and different types of licensed healthcare providers that are, either employed or contracted to work in chiropractors offices who are certified as sports specialists in comparison to general chiropractic survey respondents.
METHODS: In 2006 an e-mail invitation to participate in an anonymous survey was sent to doctors of chiropractic who were certified and in good standing with their certification board the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians (ACBSP). The individuals were provided a link to an eighteen question web based survey that was constructed to duplicate a national chiropractic survey questionnaire issued by Chiropractic Economics.
RESULTS: A total of 211 (N=211) sports doctors responded for comparison to 554 (N=554) Chiropractic Economics respondents. The responses evaluated represent a sampling of approximately ten percent of sports chiropractors and less than one percent of general chiropractic respondents. Surveys came from sports chiropractors in 37 states compared to responses from general practice doctors in all 50 states. 67% (N=142) of sports chiropractors employee other healthcare providers. Sports chiropractors who utilized other health care providers most commonly hired licensed massage therapists (N=112/79%), acupuncturists (N=33/23%), certified athletic trainers (N=30/21%), physical therapists (N=25/18%), MD/DO and nutritionists were both cited the same (N=14/10%). General chiropractic respondents also identified licensed massage therapists as the most common hired health care provider they hired (41%), with other employees identified as acupuncturist (9%), physical therapist (7%), MD/DO (6%), nutritionists (5%) and certified athletic trainers (3%).
CONCLUSION: The survey responses represent a small number of sports and general survey respondents. This survey was designed to compare the types of allied health care providers employed by doctors of chiropractic who are certified as sports chiropractor’s verses a pool of general doctor of chiropractic respondents. The responses indicate that individuals who were currently certified as sports chiropractors more frequently utilize other types of licensed healthcare providers in comparison to general chiropractic respondents. Both groups most commonly utilized licensed massage therapists as the most common hired health care provider they hired.