Assessing New or Worsening Symptoms (Aka Adverse Events for This Study) After Chiropractic Care at a Chiropractic Teaching Clinic: An Active Surveillance Pilot Study

Healthcare systems acknowledge the importance of patient safety including the reduction of preventable adverse events (AE). For healthcare providers who perform spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), the investigation of AEs remains in its infancy for several reasons including finding a reporting system that accurately collects AEs information, varied descriptions of AE's severity and occurrence frequency and the variable natural history of musculoskeletal conditions treated by SMT. Together, these factors act together to conspire against the implementation of systematic changes in SMT application that would result in improved patient care and safety.

In addition, it is vital that patient safety training initiates at the start of a healthcare worker's career. This pilot active surveillance study was designed to assess the feasibility of collecting data on patients' self-report of symptom changes as well as interns' report at a chiropractic teaching clinic.