Swiss Chiropractic Cohort (Swiss ChiCo) Study: A Nationwide Practice-Based Research Network Project

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The Swiss chiropractic cohort (Swiss ChiCo) practice-based research network (PBRN) is nationwide research project with the aim to develop a musculoskeletal focused PBRN within the Swiss chiropractic setting and describe the characteristics of clinicians recruited. Development of the PBRN has been guided through participatory engagement of multiple stakeholders including patients, clinicians, scientists, and policymakers.

Detailed Description
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Management of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions is moving away from traditional medical treatments such as pain medication and towards more physical and preventative approaches. As a result, there is a need to describe manual care approaches to make informed decisions on how best to use this capacity in the current health care system. While this literature is emerging, very little is collected from clinical settings where the large majority of MSK care occurs. The lack of clinically collected data creates gaps in patient-centred research and difficulties with knowledge implementation in treatment settings. To help bridge this divide, countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and Australia have established MSK-focused practice-based research networks (PBRNs). PBRNs are sustained collaborations between practitioners and academicians. This collaboration allows patient recruitment from diverse clinical settings and allows practitioners to be more actively involved in the research process. As a result data collected, and subsequent recommendations may have greater clinical utility than that which comes from more traditional research-only settings. This study aims to develop a MSK focused PBRN within the Swiss chiropractic setting and describe the characteristics of clinicians recruited. It represents a collaborative effort of international researchers, Swiss chiropractic clinicians, and the chiropractic patient and clinical associations in Switzerland (Pro Chiropractic Switzerland and ChiroSuisse). Clinicians will endorse participation in the PBRN by completing an electronic study form. Once established, nested sub-studies will be conducted within this new clinical research environment. Through stakeholder engagement and institutional support, the Swiss ChiCo PBRN can serve as an important resource to advance chiropractic and MSK health services research.

Official Title
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Swiss Chiropractic Cohort (Swiss ChiCo) Study: A Nationwide Practice-Based Research Network Project

Conditions
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Musculoskeletal Pain

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Active clinician members of the Swiss Chiropractic Association (ChiroSuisse)
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Chiropractic clinicians<br>Swiss chiropractic clinicians | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Self-confidence in clinical management of patients with low back pain | Assessment via practitioner self-confidence scale (PCS, 4-20). The PCS contains four items with a total score of 20 where 4 represents greatest self-confidence and 20 represents the lowest self-confidence towards clinical management of patients with low back pain. | Baseline | 
| Biomedical versus biopsychosocial treatment orientation | Assessment via pain attitudes and beliefs scale musculoskeletal version (PABS-MSK). The PABS-MSK contains two domains, a higher score on the biomedical domain (PABS-MSK-BM, score range 10-60) represents a higher biomedical orientation. A higher score on the biopsychosocial domain (PABS-MSK-BPS, score range 10-60) represents a higher biopsychosocial orientation. | Baseline | 
| Participation proportion (feasibility outcome) | Proportion of eligible clinicians who participate | Baseline | 
| Motivation for clinician participation in a PBRN sub-study (feasibility outcome) | Assessment via visual analog scale (VAS, 0-100). A higher score reflects higher motivation for clinician participation in a PBRN sub-study. | Baseline | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Chiropractic, Health care quality, Musculoskeletal health, Manual medicine