Adams Jon, Lauche Romy, Peng Wenbo, Steel Amie, Moore Craig, Amorin-Woods Lyndon G, Sibbritt David
Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), University of Technology Sydney, Level 8, Building 10, 235-253 Jones Street, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Office of Research, Endeavour College of Natural Health, Brisbane, Australia.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Jan 5;17(1):14. doi: 10.1186/s12906-016-1542-x.
This paper reports the profile of the Australian chiropractic workforce and characteristics of chiropractic care from a large nationally-representative sample of practitioners.
A 21-item questionnaire examining practitioner, practice and clinical management characteristics was distributed to all registered chiropractors (n = 4,684) in Australia in 2015 via both online and hard copy mail out.
The survey attracted a response rate of 43% (n = 2,005), and the sample is largely representative of the national chiropractic workforce on a number of key indicators. The average age of the chiropractors was 42.1 years, nearly two-thirds are male, and the vast majority hold a bachelor degree or higher qualification. Australian chiropractors are focused upon treating people across a wide age range who mainly present with musculoskeletal conditions. Australian chiropractors have referral relationships with a range of conventional, allied health and complementary medicine (CAM) providers.
The chiropractic profession represents a substantial component of the contemporary Australian health care system with chiropractors managing an estimated 21.3 million patient visits per year. While the Australian chiropractic workforce is well educated, research engagement and research capacity remains sub-optimal and there is much room for further capacity building to help chiropractic reach full potential as a key integrated profession within an evidence-based health care system. Further rich, in-depth research is warranted to improve our understanding of the role of chiropractic within the Australian health care system.
本文报告了澳大利亚整脊治疗师队伍的概况以及从大量具有全国代表性的从业者样本中得出的整脊治疗的特点。
2015年，一份包含21个项目、用于调查从业者、诊所和临床管理特征的问卷通过在线和邮寄硬拷贝的方式分发给澳大利亚所有注册整脊治疗师（n = 4684）。
该调查的回复率为43%（n = 2005），在一些关键指标上，该样本在很大程度上代表了全国整脊治疗师队伍。整脊治疗师的平均年龄为42.1岁，近三分之二为男性，绝大多数拥有学士学位或更高学历。澳大利亚整脊治疗师专注于治疗各个年龄段的人群，这些人主要患有肌肉骨骼疾病。澳大利亚整脊治疗师与一系列传统医学、辅助医疗和补充医学（CAM）提供者建立了转诊关系。
整脊治疗专业是当代澳大利亚医疗保健系统的重要组成部分，整脊治疗师估计每年接待2130万患者就诊。虽然澳大利亚整脊治疗师队伍受过良好教育，但研究参与度和研究能力仍不理想，仍有很大的能力建设空间来帮助整脊治疗作为循证医疗保健系统中的关键综合专业发挥其全部潜力。有必要进行进一步丰富、深入的研究以增进我们对整脊治疗在澳大利亚医疗保健系统中作用的理解。
