IntroductionSpinal and peripheral joint manipulation (SMT) and mobilisation (MOB) are widely used... more IntroductionSpinal and peripheral joint manipulation (SMT) and mobilisation (MOB) are widely used and recommended in the best practice guidelines for managing musculoskeletal conditions. Although adverse events (AEs) have been reported following these interventions, a clear definition and classification system for AEs remains unsettled. With many professionals using SMT and MOB, establishing consensus on a definition and classification system is needed to assist with the assimilation of AEs data across professions and to inform research priorities to optimise safety in clinical practice.Methods and analysisThis international multidisciplinary electronic Delphi study protocol is informed by a scoping review and in accordance with the ‘Guidance on Conduction and Reporting Delphi Studies’. With oversight from an expert steering committee, the study comprises three rounds using online questionnaires. Experts in manual therapy and patient safety meeting strict eligibility criteria from t...
Correspondence from Yu et al. identify methodological issues with the systematic review of manual... more Correspondence from Yu et al. identify methodological issues with the systematic review of manual therapy for pediatric manuscript. Like any research study, limitations are important for readers to keep in consideration when reviewing study findings. The primary authors maintain full confidence in the use of the review to provide practicing clinicians with a comprehensive overview of the limited and low-quality available evidence regarding manual therapies for the pediatric patient.
Background Previous research demonstrated that manipulation of the extremities was associated wit... more Background Previous research demonstrated that manipulation of the extremities was associated with changes in multisegmental postural sway as well as improvement in a lower extremity balancing task. We were interested if these effects would extend to an upper extremity task. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether extremity manipulation could influence dual task performance where the explicit suprapostural task was balancing a water filled tube in the frontal plane. Methods Participants were healthy volunteers (aged 21–32 years). Upper- or lower-extremity manipulations were delivered in a participant and assessor blinded, randomized crossover, clinical trial. Postural (center of pressure) and suprapostural (tube motion) measurements in the frontal plane were made pre-post manipulation under eyes open and eyes closed conditions using a BTrackS™ force plate and a Shimmer inertial measurement unit, respectively. Pathlength, range, root mean square and sample entropy were calcu...
Background Patient safety research has lagged within academic settings, including chiropractic te... more Background Patient safety research has lagged within academic settings, including chiropractic teaching institutions. To develop a robust patient safety culture, the Institute of Medicine emphasized the need for employee’s attitudes to be understanding and positive. To initiate the assessment of the current culture and future needs, this study evaluated patient safety attitudes among chiropractic teaching clinic stakeholders (supervising clinicians, student interns, and administrative staff) and compared their standardized survey scores to established medical survey databases. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods survey design with quantitative analytic priority. Chiropractic interns, clinical faculty, and clinic staff of 5 international chiropractic educational programs completed a modified version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Culture for Medical Offices Survey with open-ended comment fields between 2014 and 2016. Composit...
Background Approximately 50% of patients who receive spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) experience... more Background Approximately 50% of patients who receive spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) experience some kind of adverse event (AE), typically benign and transient in nature. Regardless of their severity, mitigating benign AEs is important to improve patient experience and quality of care. The aim of this study was to identify beliefs, perceptions and practices of chiropractors and patients regarding benign AEs post-SMT and potential strategies to mitigate them. Methods Clinicians and patients from two chiropractic teaching clinics were invited to respond to an 11-question survey exploring their beliefs, perceptions and practices regarding benign AEs post-SMT and strategies to mitigate them. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 39 clinicians (67% response rate) and 203 patients (82.9% response rate) completed the survey. Most clinicians (97%) believed benign AEs occur, and 82% reported their own patients have experienced one. For patients, 55% repor...
Background Patient-centred care is internationally recognized as a foundation of quality patient ... more Background Patient-centred care is internationally recognized as a foundation of quality patient care. Attitudes of students towards patient-centred care have been assessed in various health professions. However, little is known how chiropractic students’ attitudes towards patient-centred care compare to those of other health professions or whether they vary internationally, and between academic programs. Objective To assess the association of select variables on student attitude towards patient-centred care among select chiropractic programs worldwide. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) to assess students’ patient-centred attitudes towards the doctor-patient relationship. Eighteen items were scored on a 1 to 6 Likert scale; higher scores indicating more patient-centredness. All students from seven chiropractic educational programs worldwide were invited to complete an online survey. Results were analyzed descriptivel...
In an evidence-based health care environment, healthcare professions require a sustainable resear... more In an evidence-based health care environment, healthcare professions require a sustainable research culture to remain relevant. At present however, there is not a mature research culture across the chiropractic profession largely due to deficiencies in research capacity and leadership, which may be caused by a lack of chiropractic teaching programs in major universities. As a response to this challenge the Chiropractic Academy for Research Leadership, CARL, was created with the aim of develop a global network of successful early-career chiropractic researchers under the mentorship of three successful senior academics from Australia, Canada, and Denmark. The program centres upon an annual week-long program residential that rotates continental locations over the first three-year cycle and between residentials the CARL fellows work on self-initiated research and leadership initiatives. Through a competivite application process, the first cohort was selected and consists of 13 early car...
Patient safety performance can be assessed with several systems, including passive and active sur... more Patient safety performance can be assessed with several systems, including passive and active surveillance. Passive surveillance systems provide opportunity for health care personnel to confidentially and voluntarily report incidents, including adverse events, occurring in their work environment. Active surveillance systems systematically monitor patient encounters to seek detailed information about adverse events that occur in work environments; unlike passive surveillance, active surveillance allows for collection of both numerator (number of adverse events) and denominator (number of patients seen) data. Chiropractic manual therapy is commonly used in both adults and children, yet few studies have been done to evaluate the safety of chiropractic manual therapy for children. In an attempt to evaluate this, this study will compare adverse event reporting in passive versus active surveillance systems after chiropractic manual therapy in the pediatric population. This cluster randomi...
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2016
The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to evaluate attitudes and opinions of doctors of c... more The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to evaluate attitudes and opinions of doctors of chiropractic (DCs) specializing in pediatric care toward patient safety. The Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was adapted for providers who use spinal manipulation therapy and sent out to 2 US chiropractic organizations' pediatric council members (n = 400) between February and April 2014. The survey measured 12 patient safety dimensions and included questions on patient safety items and quality issues, information exchange, and overall clinic ratings. Data analyses included a percent composite average and a nonrespondent analysis. The response rate was 29.5% (n = 118). Almost one- third of respondents' patients were pediatric (≤17 years of age). DCs with a pediatric certification were 3 times more likely to respond (P < .001), but little qualitative differences were found in responses. The patient safety dimensions with the highest positive composite percentages were Organizational Learning (both administration and clinical) and Teamwork (>90%). Patient Care Tracking/Follow-up and Work Pressure and Pace were patient safety dimensions that had the lowest positive composite scores (<85%). The responses also indicated that there was concern regarding information exchange with insurance/third-party payors. Two quality issues identified for improvement were (1) updating a patient's medication list and (2) following up on critically abnormal results from a laboratory or imaging test within 1 day. The average overall patient safety rating score indicated that 83% of respondents rated themselves as "very good" or "excellent." Compared with 2014 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality physician referent data from medical offices, pediatric DCs appear to have more positive patient safety attitudes and opinions. Future patient safety studies need to prospectively evaluate safety performance with direct feedback from patients and compare results with these self-assessed safety attitudes, as well as make further use of this survey to develop a comparable database for spinal manipulation providers.
Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, Jun 5, 2016
The purpose of this pilot sham-controlled clinical trial was to estimate the treatment effect and... more The purpose of this pilot sham-controlled clinical trial was to estimate the treatment effect and safety of toggle recoil spinal manipulation for blood pressure management. Fifty-one participants with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure ranging from 135 to 159 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ranging from 85 to 99 mm Hg) were allocated by an adaptive design to 2 treatments: toggle recoil spinal manipulation or a sham procedure. Participants were seen by a doctor of chiropractic twice weekly for 6 weeks and remained on their antihypertensive medications, as prescribed, throughout the trial. Blood pressure was assessed at baseline and after study visits 1, 6 (week 3), and 12 (week 6), with the primary end point at week 6. Analysis of covariance was used to compare mean blood pressure changes from baseline between groups at each end point, controlling for sex, age, body mass index, and baseline blood pressure. Adjusted mean change from baseline to week 6 w...
Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 2016
An outline of the minimum core competencies expected from a certified pediatric doctor of chiropr... more An outline of the minimum core competencies expected from a certified pediatric doctor of chiropractic was developed using a Delphi consensus process. The initial set of seed statements and substatements was modeled on competency documents used by organizations that oversee chiropractic and medical education. These statements were distributed to the Delphi panel, reaching consensus when 80% of the panelists approved each segment. The panel consisted of 23 specialists in chiropractic pediatrics (14 females) from across the broad spectrum of the chiropractic profession. Sixty-one percent of panelists had postgraduate pediatric certifications or degrees, 39% had additional graduate degrees, and 74% were faculty at a chiropractic institution and/or in a postgraduate pediatrics program. The panel were initially given 10 statements with related substatements formulated by the study’s steering committee. On all 3 rounds of the Delphi process the panelists reached consensus; however, multip...
Low back pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common causes of disability in U.S. armed f... more Low back pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common causes of disability in U.S. armed forces personnel. Currently, no single therapeutic method has been established as a gold standard treatment for this increasingly prevalent condition. One commonly used treatment, which has demonstrated consistent positive outcomes in terms of pain and function within a civilian population is spinal manipulative therapy provided by doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractic care, delivered within a multidisciplinary framework in military healthcare settings, has the potential to help improve clinical outcomes for military personnel with low back pain. However, its effectiveness in a military setting has not been well established. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate changes in pain and disability in active duty service members with low back pain who are allocated to receive usual medical care plus chiropractic care versus treatment with usual medical care alone. This pragmatic co...
IntroductionSpinal and peripheral joint manipulation (SMT) and mobilisation (MOB) are widely used... more IntroductionSpinal and peripheral joint manipulation (SMT) and mobilisation (MOB) are widely used and recommended in the best practice guidelines for managing musculoskeletal conditions. Although adverse events (AEs) have been reported following these interventions, a clear definition and classification system for AEs remains unsettled. With many professionals using SMT and MOB, establishing consensus on a definition and classification system is needed to assist with the assimilation of AEs data across professions and to inform research priorities to optimise safety in clinical practice.Methods and analysisThis international multidisciplinary electronic Delphi study protocol is informed by a scoping review and in accordance with the ‘Guidance on Conduction and Reporting Delphi Studies’. With oversight from an expert steering committee, the study comprises three rounds using online questionnaires. Experts in manual therapy and patient safety meeting strict eligibility criteria from t...
Correspondence from Yu et al. identify methodological issues with the systematic review of manual... more Correspondence from Yu et al. identify methodological issues with the systematic review of manual therapy for pediatric manuscript. Like any research study, limitations are important for readers to keep in consideration when reviewing study findings. The primary authors maintain full confidence in the use of the review to provide practicing clinicians with a comprehensive overview of the limited and low-quality available evidence regarding manual therapies for the pediatric patient.
Background Previous research demonstrated that manipulation of the extremities was associated wit... more Background Previous research demonstrated that manipulation of the extremities was associated with changes in multisegmental postural sway as well as improvement in a lower extremity balancing task. We were interested if these effects would extend to an upper extremity task. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether extremity manipulation could influence dual task performance where the explicit suprapostural task was balancing a water filled tube in the frontal plane. Methods Participants were healthy volunteers (aged 21–32 years). Upper- or lower-extremity manipulations were delivered in a participant and assessor blinded, randomized crossover, clinical trial. Postural (center of pressure) and suprapostural (tube motion) measurements in the frontal plane were made pre-post manipulation under eyes open and eyes closed conditions using a BTrackS™ force plate and a Shimmer inertial measurement unit, respectively. Pathlength, range, root mean square and sample entropy were calcu...
Background Patient safety research has lagged within academic settings, including chiropractic te... more Background Patient safety research has lagged within academic settings, including chiropractic teaching institutions. To develop a robust patient safety culture, the Institute of Medicine emphasized the need for employee’s attitudes to be understanding and positive. To initiate the assessment of the current culture and future needs, this study evaluated patient safety attitudes among chiropractic teaching clinic stakeholders (supervising clinicians, student interns, and administrative staff) and compared their standardized survey scores to established medical survey databases. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods survey design with quantitative analytic priority. Chiropractic interns, clinical faculty, and clinic staff of 5 international chiropractic educational programs completed a modified version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Culture for Medical Offices Survey with open-ended comment fields between 2014 and 2016. Composit...
Background Approximately 50% of patients who receive spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) experience... more Background Approximately 50% of patients who receive spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) experience some kind of adverse event (AE), typically benign and transient in nature. Regardless of their severity, mitigating benign AEs is important to improve patient experience and quality of care. The aim of this study was to identify beliefs, perceptions and practices of chiropractors and patients regarding benign AEs post-SMT and potential strategies to mitigate them. Methods Clinicians and patients from two chiropractic teaching clinics were invited to respond to an 11-question survey exploring their beliefs, perceptions and practices regarding benign AEs post-SMT and strategies to mitigate them. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 39 clinicians (67% response rate) and 203 patients (82.9% response rate) completed the survey. Most clinicians (97%) believed benign AEs occur, and 82% reported their own patients have experienced one. For patients, 55% repor...
Background Patient-centred care is internationally recognized as a foundation of quality patient ... more Background Patient-centred care is internationally recognized as a foundation of quality patient care. Attitudes of students towards patient-centred care have been assessed in various health professions. However, little is known how chiropractic students’ attitudes towards patient-centred care compare to those of other health professions or whether they vary internationally, and between academic programs. Objective To assess the association of select variables on student attitude towards patient-centred care among select chiropractic programs worldwide. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) to assess students’ patient-centred attitudes towards the doctor-patient relationship. Eighteen items were scored on a 1 to 6 Likert scale; higher scores indicating more patient-centredness. All students from seven chiropractic educational programs worldwide were invited to complete an online survey. Results were analyzed descriptivel...
In an evidence-based health care environment, healthcare professions require a sustainable resear... more In an evidence-based health care environment, healthcare professions require a sustainable research culture to remain relevant. At present however, there is not a mature research culture across the chiropractic profession largely due to deficiencies in research capacity and leadership, which may be caused by a lack of chiropractic teaching programs in major universities. As a response to this challenge the Chiropractic Academy for Research Leadership, CARL, was created with the aim of develop a global network of successful early-career chiropractic researchers under the mentorship of three successful senior academics from Australia, Canada, and Denmark. The program centres upon an annual week-long program residential that rotates continental locations over the first three-year cycle and between residentials the CARL fellows work on self-initiated research and leadership initiatives. Through a competivite application process, the first cohort was selected and consists of 13 early car...
Patient safety performance can be assessed with several systems, including passive and active sur... more Patient safety performance can be assessed with several systems, including passive and active surveillance. Passive surveillance systems provide opportunity for health care personnel to confidentially and voluntarily report incidents, including adverse events, occurring in their work environment. Active surveillance systems systematically monitor patient encounters to seek detailed information about adverse events that occur in work environments; unlike passive surveillance, active surveillance allows for collection of both numerator (number of adverse events) and denominator (number of patients seen) data. Chiropractic manual therapy is commonly used in both adults and children, yet few studies have been done to evaluate the safety of chiropractic manual therapy for children. In an attempt to evaluate this, this study will compare adverse event reporting in passive versus active surveillance systems after chiropractic manual therapy in the pediatric population. This cluster randomi...
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2016
The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to evaluate attitudes and opinions of doctors of c... more The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to evaluate attitudes and opinions of doctors of chiropractic (DCs) specializing in pediatric care toward patient safety. The Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was adapted for providers who use spinal manipulation therapy and sent out to 2 US chiropractic organizations' pediatric council members (n = 400) between February and April 2014. The survey measured 12 patient safety dimensions and included questions on patient safety items and quality issues, information exchange, and overall clinic ratings. Data analyses included a percent composite average and a nonrespondent analysis. The response rate was 29.5% (n = 118). Almost one- third of respondents' patients were pediatric (≤17 years of age). DCs with a pediatric certification were 3 times more likely to respond (P < .001), but little qualitative differences were found in responses. The patient safety dimensions with the highest positive composite percentages were Organizational Learning (both administration and clinical) and Teamwork (>90%). Patient Care Tracking/Follow-up and Work Pressure and Pace were patient safety dimensions that had the lowest positive composite scores (<85%). The responses also indicated that there was concern regarding information exchange with insurance/third-party payors. Two quality issues identified for improvement were (1) updating a patient's medication list and (2) following up on critically abnormal results from a laboratory or imaging test within 1 day. The average overall patient safety rating score indicated that 83% of respondents rated themselves as "very good" or "excellent." Compared with 2014 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality physician referent data from medical offices, pediatric DCs appear to have more positive patient safety attitudes and opinions. Future patient safety studies need to prospectively evaluate safety performance with direct feedback from patients and compare results with these self-assessed safety attitudes, as well as make further use of this survey to develop a comparable database for spinal manipulation providers.
Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, Jun 5, 2016
The purpose of this pilot sham-controlled clinical trial was to estimate the treatment effect and... more The purpose of this pilot sham-controlled clinical trial was to estimate the treatment effect and safety of toggle recoil spinal manipulation for blood pressure management. Fifty-one participants with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure ranging from 135 to 159 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ranging from 85 to 99 mm Hg) were allocated by an adaptive design to 2 treatments: toggle recoil spinal manipulation or a sham procedure. Participants were seen by a doctor of chiropractic twice weekly for 6 weeks and remained on their antihypertensive medications, as prescribed, throughout the trial. Blood pressure was assessed at baseline and after study visits 1, 6 (week 3), and 12 (week 6), with the primary end point at week 6. Analysis of covariance was used to compare mean blood pressure changes from baseline between groups at each end point, controlling for sex, age, body mass index, and baseline blood pressure. Adjusted mean change from baseline to week 6 w...
Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 2016
An outline of the minimum core competencies expected from a certified pediatric doctor of chiropr... more An outline of the minimum core competencies expected from a certified pediatric doctor of chiropractic was developed using a Delphi consensus process. The initial set of seed statements and substatements was modeled on competency documents used by organizations that oversee chiropractic and medical education. These statements were distributed to the Delphi panel, reaching consensus when 80% of the panelists approved each segment. The panel consisted of 23 specialists in chiropractic pediatrics (14 females) from across the broad spectrum of the chiropractic profession. Sixty-one percent of panelists had postgraduate pediatric certifications or degrees, 39% had additional graduate degrees, and 74% were faculty at a chiropractic institution and/or in a postgraduate pediatrics program. The panel were initially given 10 statements with related substatements formulated by the study’s steering committee. On all 3 rounds of the Delphi process the panelists reached consensus; however, multip...
Low back pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common causes of disability in U.S. armed f... more Low back pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common causes of disability in U.S. armed forces personnel. Currently, no single therapeutic method has been established as a gold standard treatment for this increasingly prevalent condition. One commonly used treatment, which has demonstrated consistent positive outcomes in terms of pain and function within a civilian population is spinal manipulative therapy provided by doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractic care, delivered within a multidisciplinary framework in military healthcare settings, has the potential to help improve clinical outcomes for military personnel with low back pain. However, its effectiveness in a military setting has not been well established. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate changes in pain and disability in active duty service members with low back pain who are allocated to receive usual medical care plus chiropractic care versus treatment with usual medical care alone. This pragmatic co...
Uploads
Papers by Katherine Pohlman