Chiropractic is one of the most accessed complimentary alternative medicine modalities worldwide. This study aimed to investigate medical student knowledge and attitudes towards chiropractic on a global scale and examine key themes influencing these attitudes. The research was conducted as a narrative review and involved an electronic database search to find twenty eligible studies relevant to the scope of the review. The STROBE checklist was used to critically appraise all studies.
Results: A diverse range of medical student attitudes and knowledge levels of chiropractic from the period of 1998-2020 were found. Twenty studies represented study locations across Australia, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Study participants were medical students.
Main conclusions and recommendations: A representative attitude amongst medical students is not currently conclusive in the literature due to considerable heterogeneity across studies and limited data of varying quality. Negative student attitudes towards chiropractic are likely influenced by themes such as safety concerns, lack of evidence, scepticism and lack of knowledge. Views such as the belief that chiropractic is mainstream therapy, evidence-based medicine and that it is effective are likely responsible for neutral or positive student attitudes. Future research should include cross-sectional surveys of medical student populations to identify the sources of information and better evaluate what influences student attitudes.
Author keywords: Medical student, Chiropractic, Complementary Alternative Medicine, Attitudes
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