Mirtz Timothy A, Hebert Jeffrey J, Wyatt Lawrence H
Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 414 East Clark Street--Dome 221B, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, 57069, USA.
Chiropr Osteopat. 2010 Nov 4;18:29. doi: 10.1186/1746-1340-18-29.
Research into attitudes about chiropractors who are no longer engaged in active clinical practice is non-existent. Yet non-practicing chiropractors (NPCs) represent a valid sub-group worthy of study.
The purpose of this research was to assess attrition attitudes of NPCs about the chiropractic profession and develop a scale to assess such attitudes.
A 48 item survey was developed using the PsychData software. This survey included 35 Likert-style items assessing various aspects of the profession namely financial, educational, psychosocial and political. An internet discussion site where NPCs may be members was accessed for recruitment purposes.
A total of 70 valid responses were received for analysis. A majority of respondents were male with 66% being in non-practice status for 3 to 5 years and less with 43% indicating that they had graduated since the year 2000. Most respondents were employed either in other healthcare professions and non-chiropractic education. A majority of NPCs believed that business ethics in chiropractic were questionable and that overhead expense and student loans were factors in practice success. A majority of NPCs were in associate practice at one time with many believing that associates were encouraged to prolong the care of patients and that associate salaries were not fair. Most NPCs surveyed believed that chiropractic was not a good career choice and would not recommend someone to become a chiropractor. From this survey, a 12 item scale was developed called the "chiropractor attrition attitude scale" for future research. Reliability analysis of this novel scale demonstrated a coefficient alpha of 0.90.
The low response rate indicates that findings cannot be generalized to the NPC population. This study nonetheless demonstrates that NPCs attrition attitudes can be assessed. The lack of a central database of NPCs is a challenge to future research. Appropriate investigation of attrition within the chiropractic profession would be helpful in the analysis of attitudes regarding both chiropractic education and practice. Further research is needed in this area.
目前尚无关于不再从事临床实践的脊椎按摩师态度的研究。然而，非执业脊椎按摩师（NPCs）是一个值得研究的有效亚群体。
本研究的目的是评估非执业脊椎按摩师对脊椎按摩行业的流失态度，并开发一个量表来评估此类态度。
使用PsychData软件编制了一份包含48个条目的调查问卷。该问卷包括35个李克特式条目，评估该行业的各个方面，即财务、教育、心理社会和政治方面。为了招募参与者，访问了一个非执业脊椎按摩师可能会加入的互联网讨论网站。
共收到70份有效回复用于分析。大多数受访者为男性，66%处于非执业状态3至5年，较少受访者（43%）表示自2000年以来毕业。大多数受访者受雇于其他医疗保健行业或非脊椎按摩教育领域。大多数非执业脊椎按摩师认为脊椎按摩行业的商业道德存在问题，且运营费用和学生贷款是实践成功的因素。大多数非执业脊椎按摩师曾有过合伙执业经历，许多人认为合伙人被鼓励延长患者的治疗时间，且合伙人薪资不公平。大多数接受调查的非执业脊椎按摩师认为脊椎按摩不是一个好的职业选择，也不会推荐他人成为脊椎按摩师。通过本次调查，开发了一个名为“脊椎按摩师流失态度量表”的包含12个条目的量表，用于未来研究。对这个新量表的信度分析显示其阿尔法系数为0.90。
低回复率表明研究结果不能推广到非执业脊椎按摩师群体。尽管如此，本研究表明非执业脊椎按摩师的流失态度是可以评估的。缺乏非执业脊椎按摩师的中央数据库是未来研究的一个挑战。对脊椎按摩行业内的流失情况进行适当调查，将有助于分析对脊椎按摩教育和实践的态度。该领域需要进一步研究。
