A retrospective analysis of the cultural competence of chiropractic students in a public health course.

PURPOSE

Diverse communities require chiropractors to be culturally competent to serve diverse populations. The purpose of this analysis is to describe the effect on knowledge and confidence to serve diverse populations following 6 hours of cultural competency training.

METHODS

Using a quasi-experimental one-group design, a paired t-test using a 40-item questionnaire to assess knowledge and a 15-item questionnaire to rate confidence was used for the stated purpose.

RESULTS

A total of 45 students completed the 40-item questionnaire and 48 students completed the 15-item questionnaire. Analyses showed significant increases from pre-to post-training (Δ score = 21.34%; p < 0.001) in knowledge to serve diverse populations; but in confidence no significant change was found (Δ score = 0.24; p = 0.26). However, when accounting for sex differences, female students showed a significant increase in confidence with 7 of the 15 items at p < 0.05, while male students did not achieve signifi-cant changes in any of these items.

CONCLUSIONS

The knowledge of chiropractic students increased significantly following a course in cultural competence. Their confidence to serve diverse populations, however, did not change significantly. Further examination of the data revealed that baseline measures on confidence may be relatively high. Further study is required to determine the covariates of successful training in cultural competency.