Knowledge of and adherence to radiographic guidelines for low back pain: a survey of chiropractors in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Table 3 A summary of responses (proportion (95% confidence interval)) for each of the five clinical vignettes from the current study (top) compared with the corresponding results from the Walker et al. (2011) [18] study (proportion differences (95% confidence interval)) (bottom)

Recommendation	Vignette 1 Acute LBP without radiculopathy Non-traumatic	Vignette 2 Chronic LBP without radiculopathy	Vignette 3 Subacute LBP without radiculopathy	Vignette 4 Acute LBP without radiculopathy Non-traumatic	Vignette 5 Acute LBP Traumatic
Lumbosacral X-ray	2% (0–1%)^f	12% (3–20%)	46% (33–60%)	23% (12–35%)	71% (59–83%)
Full Spine X-ray	0%	2% (0–10%)^f	0%	2% (0–10%)^f	6% (1–16%)^f
None	88% (80–97%)	75% (63–87%)	38% (25–52%)	62% (48–75%)	8% (0–15%)
Difference from Walker et al. (2011) [18], compared by the N-1 Chi-Squared test
Lumbosacral X-ray	↓ 38% (28–44%)^a	↓ 40% (27–49%)^a	1% (−13–15%)	↓ 17% (3–28%)^b	↑ 4% (−10–16%)
Full Spine X-ray	↓ 24% (16–29%)^a	↓ 30% (20–36%)^a	↓ 14% (6–19%)	↓ 23% (13–29%)^c	↓ 22% (11–29%)^d
None	↑ 54% (41–62%)^a	↑ 61% (47–71%)^a	↑ 18% (5–32%)^e	↑ 34% (19–47%)^a	5% (− 0.5–16%)

Significance at p< 0.05. ^a p < 0.0001, ^bp = 0.0203, ^cp = 0.0002, ^dp = 0.0007, ^ep = 0.0041
^fExact binomial confidence interval calculated
Arrows indicate direction of proportion (↓ lower, ↑ higher) compared to Walker et al. (2011) [18]. The only clinical vignette where recommending a lumbar spine x-ray would adhere to the current guidelines was #5

ISSN: 2045-709X