• Doyle MF
• Miller JE

• Affiliation / AECC University College
• Affiliation / Bournemouth University
• Affiliation(G) / England / Bournemouth
• Child
• Chiropractors / statistics and numerical data
• Demography
• Pediatrics / statistics and numerical data

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to survey the demographic profile and educational background of chiropractors with pediatric patients on a multinational scale.

METHODS: A multinational online cross-sectional demographic survey conducted over a 15-day period in July 2010. The survey was electronically administered via chiropractic associations in 17 countries, using SurveyMonkey for data acquisition, transfer, and descriptive analysis.

RESULTS: The response rate was 10.1%, and 1498 responses were received from 17 countries on 6 continents. Of these, 90.4% accepted pediatric cases. The average practitioner was male (61.1%) and 41.4 years old, had 13.6 years in practice, and saw 107 patient visits per week. Regarding educational background, 63.4% had a bachelor's degree or higher in addition to their chiropractic qualification, and 18.4% had a postgraduate certificate or higher in pediatric chiropractic.

CONCLUSION: This is the first study about chiropractors who treat children from the United Arab Emirates, Peru, Japan, South Africa, and Spain. Although the response rate was low, the results of this multinational survey suggest that pediatric chiropractic care may be a common component of usual chiropractic practice on a multinational level for these respondents.

Author keywords: Chiropractic, Child, Pediatrics, Demography

Author affiliations: Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text is available by subscription. Click on the above link and select a publisher from PubMed's LinkOut feature.