| Objective: The objective was to determine how important chiropractors in the Netherlands feel that knowledge and skills in general diagnosis are, how confident they are in their abilities in this domain, and whether or not there is a demand for continuing professional development (CPD) in this area. Methods: A questionnaire was sent out to all members of the Netherlands’ Chiropractic Association at the beginning of September 2008. Non-respondents were contacted by telephone 3 weeks later. Results: The response rate was 63% (n = 139). In total, 72% (n = 100) of the respondents felt knowledge of, and skills in, general diagnosis are important, but only 52% (n = 72) of the respondents felt confident in referring patients based on general diagnosis examinations. Even fewer respondents (44%) felt confident in their performance of these procedures and only 23% (n = 32) felt confident in making a diagnosis based on those examination findings. It was found that there is a demand for CPD, with 68% (n = 83) of respondents saying they would be interested in attending a course to update their skills and knowledge in this area. Conclusion: Chiropractors feel it is important to be able to perform general diagnosis examinations but their confidence in performing these procedures is relatively low. The majority of the respondents to this survey would be interested in a CPD course to update their skills and knowledge in general diagnosis. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription.
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