Table 2
Frequency of self-reported practice style characteristics*+
| Practice Style | Raw values and percentages of respondents who indicated adhering to certain practice style |
|---|
| Function-based | 73/108 = 67.6% |
| Pain-based | 58/108 = 53.7% |
| Subluxation-based | 54/108 = 50.0% |
| Structure-based | 36/108 = 33.3% |
| Tonal-based | 12/108 = 11.1% |
| Evidence-based | 68/108 = 63.0% |
| Tonal-based who also indicated subluxation-based | 10/12 = 83.3% |
| Pain-based who also indicated functional-based | 52/58 = 89.7% |
| Pain-based who also indicated evidence-based | 42/58 = 72.4% |
| Subluxation-based who also indicated evidence-based | 28/54 = 51.9% |
*Surveyed chiropractors were permitted to select all characterics they felt described their practice activities, thus the total percentages and raw numbers exceed 100%+In general, chiropractors who characterize themselves as pain-based use pain and other symptoms as indicators to identify the clinical target for intervention. A functional-based chiropractor would rely on joint play, static and motion palpation as well as orthopedic tests to idenity the clinical target, whereas a structural-based chiropractor who emphasize the importance of posture, as assessed visually or by x-ray line marking. A subluxation-based chiropractor would posit that their principle role is to identify and correct subluxations, with or without the presence of symptoms. A tonal-based would posit that the spine cord has an optimal inherent vibratory tone or frequency, similar to the strings of a guitar, and that this optimal vibratory tone is compromised in the presence of vertebral subluxation.11
