Health services research related to chiropractic: review and recommendations for research prioritization by the chiropractic profession.

PURPOSE: This project updates a previous effort to inventory health services research conducted on chiropractic and makes recommendations for a subsequent research agenda. A qualitative review of social sciences, medical, chiropractic, and health services research literature regarding chiropractic was done with emphasis on research published since the initial health services research agenda effort in 1995. This work informed development of updated health services research recommendations.
METHODS: Literature was gathered through searches of electronic health care database retrieval systems and citation tracking. In addition to general collecting of new studies, the authors considered to what extent the 1995 research recommendations had been addressed in the new literature. A seed set of refined recommendations was formulated and initially distributed expert review and revision. The recommendations were made available for public comment and hearing at the 10th Annual Research Agenda Conference for Chiropractic in March 2005. DISCUSSION: The past 10 years have seen numerous health service research studies related to chiropractic; however, nearly all of the research priorities identified in 1995 remain unaddressed and remain as important priorities. Thus, recommendations were reprioritized and revised to submit for open comment and hearing.
CONCLUSION: A smaller number of more concise recommendations with more specific action steps are proposed for clinical quality improvement, performing cost analyses, and assessing use barriers for chiropractic.