Table 4 Significant gender differences in management decisions for scenario 2 (a patient, who has a simple neck problem with no previous long-term problems, has now improved at least 80% and stayed at this level for a couple of weeks)
From: How do chiropractors manage clinical risk? A questionnaire study
Management choice | Males mean (SD) | Females mean (SD) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
“I would encourage the patient to continue the treatment until their spine is subluxation free” | 1.92 (.97) | 2.23 (.95) | 0.002 |
“I would change my treatment approach and use another technique” | 2.76 (.80) | 3.03 (.78) | 0.002 |
“I would re-evaluate the patient with a view to establishing a better diagnosis.” | 2.74 (.81) | 2.98 (.79) | 0.01 |
“I would send the patient for a second opinion to another health care professional but keep on monitoring their condition.” | 2.13 (.68) | 2.30 (.73) | 0.04 |
“I would send the patient for diagnostic imaging.” | 2.01 (.69) | 2.21 (.72) | 0.03 |
“I would stop the treatment, apologize and report the event to the chiropractic reporting and learning system” | 1.38 (.49) | 1.52 (.54) | 0.03 |