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Table 2 Family physician’s sources of information on chiropractic and referral practices

From: Attitudes towards chiropractic: a repeated cross-sectional survey of Canadian family physicians

Year of administration

2010

2019

No. of respondents

251

162

Sources of information on chiropractic, n (%)a

  

Patient feedback

210 (84%)

121 (75%)

Relationship with a specific chiropractor

105 (42%)

51 (32%)

Research literature

94 (38%)

67 (41%)

Personal treatment experience

85 (34%)

66 (41%)

Family and friends

79 (32%)

48 (30%)

Medical school

50 (20%)

39 (24%)

Media

44 (18%)

21 (13%)

Professors/supervisors/mentors

43 (17%)

29 (18%)

Residency

11 (4%)

10 (6%)

Frequency of patient referral for chiropractic treatment, n (%) b

  

Daily

3 (1%)

1 (1%)

Weekly

46 (18%)

26 (17%)

Monthly

79 (32%)

51 (33%)

Every year

56 (22%)

30 (19%)

Never

67 (27%)

49 (31%)

Number of patients referred for chiropractic care per year, n (%) c

  

1 to 10

86 (34%)

57 (36%)

11 to 25

52 (21%)

34 (21%)

26 to 50

32 (13%)

17 (11%)

> 50

14 (6%)

10 (6%)

None

67 (27%)

42 (26%)

Reason for chiropractic referral, n (%) a,d

  

Patient request

140 (56%)

97 (68%)

Non-response to medical treatment

103 (41%)

63 (44%)

Literature supports chiropractic care

73 (29%)

41 (29%)

Relationship with a specific chiropractor

57 (23%)

29 (20%)

Personal experience as a chiropractic patient

29 (12%)

23 (16%)

Other reasons

17 (7%)

9 (6%)

  1. a total percentage is > 100% as respondents could choose more than one option
  2. b total number of respondents was 157 for the 2019 survey
  3. c total number of respondents was 169 for the 2019 survey
  4. d respondents are limited to the family physicians that reported referring patients for chiropractic