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Table 6 Distinguishing statements. Factor scores, and summary statement score for integrators (Factor 4) a

From: Attitudes, beliefs, and practices among Swiss chiropractors regarding medication prescribing for musculoskeletal conditions: a national Q-methodology study

Statement Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4
11 I feel our medication prescription privileges have allowed for better integration within the healthcare system. 0 −1 −1 4
4 I believe that medication prescription rights give us better credibility among our medical colleagues. 0 −2 1 4
9 I think that being allowed to prescribe increases our credibility among patients. 0 −2 2 3
16 I feel that prescribing medication is useful in helping patients who cannot sleep because of pain. 1 1 2 3
8 I think my knowledge for prescribing medications for treating non-MSK conditions is sufficient. −2 −3 −4 2
15 I think our prescription rights in Switzerland should be open at least to level 2 analgesics (i.e., codeine, tramadol). −1 −3 −3 1
31 I feel that in acute cases, pain medications can be used to alleviate the increased pain (i.e., normal side-effect during the first 24–48 h) due to the manipulation. −1 − 2 −1 1
5 I think the use of medication for back pain should be discouraged and Swiss chiropractors should lead the way. −3 3 0 −1
38 I believe medications should be used conservatively in regards to patient management for MSK conditions. 2 2 0 −2
34 I think that instead of prescribing, chiropractors should collaborate with the patient’s medical doctor for the prescription of medications. −1 2 1 −2
19 I think a chiropractor prescribing medications is like a medical doctor doing manipulations, let us each focus on what we do best. −3 4 1 −2
26 I believe it should be part of the definition of Chiropractic that we assist the body in self-healing WITHOUT the use of drugs or surgery. −3 4 −1 −3
10 I think medication prescription should only be performed by general practitioners or pharmacists. −4 2 0 −3
6 I do not like to prescribe because it could interfere with other medical prescriptions (i.e., double prescription). −1 1 4 −3
3 I think medication prescriptions are a burden because they bring added professional responsibility to the chiropractor. −2 0 1 −4
Summary statement: Median (IQR) summary statement score:
I think that medication prescription privileges are an advantage for the chiropractic profession in Switzerland.
4 (4 to 4) b
  1. IQR inter-quartile range, MSK musculoskeletal
  2. a Factor and summary statement scores range from − 4 to + 4. Negative scores indicate disagreement (or less agreement)
  3. b Kruskal-Wallis test indicated significantly different summary statement scores among the four factors (p < 0.001). Pairwise comparisons revealed significantly different scores between Factor 4 and Factors 2 and 3 (p = 0.005 and p = 0.015, respectively), but a similar score to Factor 1 (p = 0.480)
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Chiropractic & Manual Therapies

ISSN: 2045-709X

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