Background: Research into chiropractors� use of evidence in clinical practice appears limited to a single small\r\nqualitative study. The paucity of research in this area suggests that it is timely to undertake a more extensive study\r\nto build a more detailed understanding of the factors that influence chiropractors� adoption of evidence-based\r\npractice (EBP) principles. This study aimed to identify Australian chiropractors� attitudes and beliefs towards EBP in\r\nclinical practice, and also examine their use of research literature and clinical practice guidelines.\r\nMethods: We used an online questionnaire about attitudes, beliefs and behaviours towards the use of EBP in\r\nclinical practice that had been developed to survey physiotherapists and modified it to ensure that it was relevant\r\nto chiropractic practice. We endeavoured to survey all registered Australian chiropractors (n = 4378) via email\r\ninvitation distributed by Australian chiropractic professional organisations and the Chiropractic Board of Australia.\r\nLogistic regression analyses were conducted to examine univariate associations between responses to items\r\nmeasuring attitudes and beliefs with items measuring: age; years since registration; attention to literature; and use\r\nof clinical practice guidelines.\r\nResults: Questionnaires were returned by 584 respondents (response rate approximately 13%). The respondents�\r\nperceptions of EBP were generally positive: most agreed that the application of EBP is necessary (77.9%), literature\r\nand research findings are useful (80.2%), EBP helps them make decisions about patient care (66.5%), and expressed\r\nan interest in learning or improving EBP skills (74.9%). Almost half of the respondents (45.1%) read between two to\r\nfive articles a month. Close to half of the respondents (44.7%) used literature in the process of clinical decision\r\nmaking two to five times each month. About half of the respondents (52.4%) agreed that they used clinical practice\r\nguidelines, and around half (54.4%) agreed that they were able to incorporate patient preferences with clinical\r\npractice guidelines. The most common factor associated with increased research uptake was the perception that\r\nEBP helps make decisions about patient care.\r\nConclusions: Most Australian chiropractors hold positive attitudes towards EBP, thought EBP was useful, and were\r\ninterested in improving EBP skills. However, despite the favourable inclination towards EBP, many Australian\r\nchiropractors did not use clinical practice guidelines. Our findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the low\r\nresponse rate.
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