The board of directors of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) has announced the release of a project report, survey analysis, and summary of the practice of chiropractic within the United States.
The 164-page publication, Job Analysis of Chiropractic, centers on information obtained by a survey of approximately 5,000 randomly selected, licensed, full-time practitioners representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey was part of a three-year study conducted by the NBCE to document the practice of chiropractic as it is described by those who practice it as a full-time profession.
The published report is written in straightforward language and liberally illustrated with graphs, charts, and tables. Because it was, collectively speaking, the licensed chiropractor who provided the data on which the job analysis was based, authors of the report attempted to present an objective and well-rounded picture of present-day chiropractors and their practices.
According to NBCE President Frank G. Hideg Jr., DC, the survey's extensive statistical data base, which adhered to strict guidelines and input by numerous professionals, has yielded a publication unlike previous documents related to the practice of chiropractic. A steering committee, a national advisory committee, state licensing board members, private practitioners, chiropractic college faculty, statisticians, editors, and other professionals all endeavored to produce the most credible, relevant, and accurate reference possible.
"The resulting Job Analysis of Chiropractic should have far-reaching significance in chiropractic health care," predicted Dr. Hideg. "Applications of the survey data are expected to go well beyond the NBCE's internal uses in correlating practice-related issues to examination content."
Academicians, state licensing authorities, and those who provide health care or establish health care policy are among those who may find the job analysis data useful.
In compiling the job analysis data, Dr. Hideg, along with Job Analysis Steering Committee Chairman D. Brent Owens, DC, and Project Coordinator and NBCE Assistant Executive Director Mark G. Christensen, PhD, maintained that the readership of the report might well include individuals with a wide range of backgrounds and purposes, and with varying degrees of familiarity with the fields of chiropractic and testing and measurement. This prevailing awareness shaped the construction of the Job Analysis of Chiropractic in both content and format.
Introductory chapters familiarize the reader with chiropractic via its historical, philosophical, and educational framework. These chapters include the personal, academic, and professional criteria survey respondents met in becoming licensed practitioners of chiropractic.
Subsequent chapters present descriptions of major governmental studies relative to chiropractic, including additional studies from organizations both inside and outside the profession on the efficacy of chiropractic.
Other chapters chronicle the job analysis project from initial research, through planning, development, field testing, administration of the survey instrument, and final analysis of survey data. Here, procedures were followed to provide maximum project validity.
Later chapters focus on survey response data. They profile the "typical" doctor and patient, and note the presenting and concurrent conditions most commonly encountered in clinical practice.
Also explored were various activities performed by chiropractors in the clinical setting. Activities were divided into nine categories: case history, physical examination, neuromusculoskeletal examination, x-ray examination, laboratory and special studies, diagnosis, chiropractic technique, supportive technique, and case management. Chiropractors were asked to indicate the frequency with which these are performed, and the perceived risk to patient safety that could result if the activity should be omitted or performed poorly.
In addition to a bibliography and index, the report's Appendices include the reprinted survey instrument, an authorized listing of survey participants, a glossary of terms, and other project-related documentation.
A wealth of information beyond that published in the Job Analysis of Chiropractic text still lies within the data amassed by the NBCE job analysis survey. Compilation of a companion volume offering a breakdown of job analysis data by individual states is currently in progress. In addition, the National Board, with the assistance of the chiropractic leadership in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, has completed surveys of chiropractic practice in each of those countries. Survey reports on each are being prepared.
As a service to the profession, Dr. Hideg has announced that copies of the Job Analysis of Chiropractic are initially being made available for $10 (to cover shipping and handling costs). Copies can be obtained directly from the NBCE, 901 54th Avenue, Greeley, Colorado 80634.
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