Manipulation  of  the  neck  is performed by Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and some Medical practitioners. A devastating complication of  neck manipulation is cerebrovascular ischemia (CVI) which may result in death. Provocation tests used to predict vulnerability of patients to CVI have been described and are advocated by Chiropractors (1,2,3), Physiotherapists (4) and Medical Practitioners (5). Although these tests have been reported in the professional literature of each of these professions over the past 10 years, CVI incidents and accidents continue to occur (6). The fact that CVI incidents and accidents continue to occur may be due, in part, to practitioners not using the tests that have been advocated to predict those patients vulnerable to CVI. Since there is no information on the usage of the advocated provocational tests we propose to carry out a survey among health care professionals to determine the knowledge and usage of the provocational tests.

Grant Value: $1,200
Chief Investigator: Dr Philip Bolton – Macquarie University
Status: Complete

Outcomes:

None recorded at this time