Chiropractors’ characteristics associated with their number of workers’ compensation patients

Table 3.

DC characteristics associated with the number of workers’ compensation patients seen per year in bivariate analyses

Variables		Association with the annual number of workers’ compensation patients; mean (SD)	p-value

General information
Sex	Male	11.5 (19.4)	<0.001
Sex	Female	7.5 (12.3)

Age (years)^P		r = −0.018	0.442

Years of practice^P		r = −0.021	0.370

Type of practice	Sole practitioner	9 (18)	0.030^*
	Group of DCs	11 (19)
	Multidisciplinary without MD	11 (15)
	Multidisciplinary with MD	14 (29)

Practice province	British Columbia	8 (12)	<0.001^a
	Alberta	9 (17)
	Saskatchewan	28 (28)
	Manitoba	19 (19)
	Ontario	9 (17)
	Quebec	5 (10)
	Atlantic provinces	22 (30)

Practice area population	Under 10,000	11 (18)	0.003^b
	Between 10,000 and 49,999	12 (18)
	Between 50,000 and 99,999	10 (14)
	Between 100,000 and 499,999	12 (21)
	Over 500,000	8 (15)

Number of DCs in relation to the demand	Too few	12 (23)	0.001^c
	Too many	9 (17)
	The right number	12 (19)
	I do not know	8 (12)

Professional activities

Number of hours of practice per week^P		r = 0.158	<0.001

Number of weeks of practice per year^P		r = 0.030	0.192

Number of new patients per week^P		r = 0.485	<0.001

Number of treatments per week^P		r = 0.212	<0.001

Education, research and teaching

College of graduation	CMCC	11 (18)	0.004^d
	UQTR	5 (12)
	PCC-D	9 (18)
	PCC-W	7 (8)
	LoganU	16 (22)
	WSU	13 (20)
	NUHS	12 (20)
	NSHSU	14 (18)
	LCC-W	13 (20)
	LU	7 (9)
	Others	9 (13)

Post graduate studies	Yes	9 (14)	0.224
Post graduate studies	No	11 (18)

Number of hours of continued education^P		r = −0.019	0.416

Involved in research	Yes, currently	13 (30)	0.112
	Not now, but in the last 3 years	10 (16)
	No	10 (17)

Involved in teaching	Yes	12 (27)	0.330
Involved in teaching	No	10 (17)

Management training in the last 3 years	Yes	9 (18)	0.191
Management training in the last 3 years	No	11 (18)

Client of chiropractic practice management service	Yes	8 (16)	0.164
Client of chiropractic practice management service	No	10 (18)

Main sectors of activity

Consulting/ specialized assessment	Yes	10 (18)	0.900
Consulting/ specialized assessment	No	10 (18)

Geriatrics	Yes	10 (15)	0.921
Geriatrics	No	10 (18)

Maintenance/wellness	Yes	9 (16)	0.011
Maintenance/wellness	No	12 (19)

Nutrition	Yes	10 (18)	0.932
Nutrition	No	10 (17)

Occupational/Industrial	Yes	18 (21)	0.009
Occupational/Industrial	No	10 (17)

Pediatrics	Yes	8 (15)	0.037
Pediatrics	No	11 (18)

Pregnancy	Yes	9 (16)	0.345
Pregnancy	No	10 (18)

Rehabilitation	Yes	13 (19)	0.002
Rehabilitation	No	10 (17)

Sports Injuries	Yes	12 (20)	0.005
Sports Injuries	No	10 (17)

Care provided to patients

Do you take your own radiographs	Yes	8 (14)	<0.001
Do you take your own radiographs	No	11 (19)

Percentage of patients radiographed^P		r = −0.073	0.002

Acupuncture	Yes	14 (25)	0.001
Acupuncture	No	9 (15)

Cryotherapy	Yes	12 (17)	0.001
Cryotherapy	No	9 (18)

Diathermy	Yes	16 (17)	0.016
Diathermy	No	10 (18)

Electrotherapy	Yes	13 (19)	<0.001
Electrotherapy	No	9 (16)

Exercises	Yes	11 (18)	0.003
Exercises	No	8 (14)

Heat Packs	Yes	13 (21)	<0.001
Heat Packs	No	9 (16)

Laser	Yes	12 (17)	0.062
Laser	No	10 (18)

Low volt therapy	Yes	14 (22)	0.013
Low volt therapy	No	10 (17)

Patient education	Yes	11 (18)	0.042
Patient education	No	9 (16)

Soft-tissue therapy	Yes	11 (18)	0.037
Soft-tissue therapy	No	8 (16)

Traction, flexion/distraction	Yes	12 (19)	0.001
Traction, flexion/distraction	No	9 (17)

Ultrasounds	Yes	13 (18)	<0.001
Ultrasounds	No	9 (17)

Adjustment practice	Full spine only	11 (16)	0.522
	Full spine and extremities	10 (18)
	Cervical spine only	4 (8)
	Other	7 (9)

Chiropractic technique used

Diversified	Yes	11 (18)	0.034
Diversified	No	7 (20)

Sacral Occipital technique	Yes	8 (14)	0.093
Sacral Occipital technique	No	11 (18)

Hole In One	Yes	6 (9)	0.002
Hole In One	No	10 (18)

Gonstead	Yes	12 (20)	0.166
Gonstead	No	10 (17)

Thompson	Yes	11 (18)	0.207
Thompson	No	10 (18)

Activator	Yes	10 (17)	0.826
Activator	No	10 (19)

Cranio-sacral technique	Yes	9 (15)	0.197
Cranio-sacral technique	No	10 (18)

Types of conditions treated

Percentage of patients with neuromusculoskeletal condition^P		r = 0.068	0.003

Percentage of patients with somatovisceral conditions^P		r = −0.058	0.012

Percentage of patients with vascular related conditions^P		r = −0.014	0.560

Referral practice

Percentage of patients referred to other health care providers^P		r = 0.025	0.283

Percentage of patients referred by their employer^P		r = 0.080	0.001

Percentage of patients referred by a physician^P		r = 0.218	<0.001

CMCC: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
UQTR: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
PCC-D: Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport
PCC-W: Palmer College of Chiropractic, West
LoganU: Logan University
WSU: Western States University
NUHS: National University of Health Sciences
NWHSU: Northwestern Health Sciences University
LCC-W: Life Chiropractic College, West
LU: Life University

^PPearson correlation coefficient

^aSaskatchewan, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces are significantly higher than the other provinces. British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are significantly lower than Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces, but significantly higher than Quebec.

^b“Over 500,000” is significantly lower than “Between 10,000 – 49,999” and “Between 100,000 – 499,999”

^c“The right number of DCs” is significantly higher than “Too many DCs” and “I do not know”

^dCMCC is significantly higher than UQTR and PCC-W

^*No significant differences after the post hoc testing.