M.Tech. / The purpose of this study is to determine whether chiropractic care has an effect on a patient's quality of life using the endpoints of: "the ability to perform general activities of daily living" (patient's level of disability, and restored function) and their "general emotional state" (energy level, depression, interference from emotional problems and feeling of wellness), also how these endpoints affect quality of life. Two hundred and fifty-three subjects participated in this study. The inclusion requirements were that subjects had to be aged 20 — 60, having been under chiropractic care previously. The subjects were recruited from 14 private practices from the whole of South Africa. All subjects were required to complete a self administered quality of life questionnaire. The quality of life questionnaire was developed to suit the South African population. Each questionnaire took about 5 minutes to complete. Domains used to calculate the results were changes in aerobic activity, physical activity, hygiene, activities of daily living and emotional state, after chiropractic care compared to before chiropractic care. The results overall showed that subjects experienced an improvement in their quality of life after chiropractic care. Chiropractic care therefore, had a beneficial effect on patients' quality of life. The overall results were statistically significant. The researcher therefore concludes that chiropractic care has an effect on patients' quality of life. It is recommended that future studies / research utilize a more comprehensively developed research questionnaire
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:9507 |
| Date | 16 August 2012 |
| Creators | Bruckner, Rene |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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