Abstract
Background: Research waste is defined as research outcomes with no or minimal societal benefits. It is a widespread problem in the healthcare field. Four primary sources of research waste have been defined: (1) irrelevant or low priority research questions, (2) poor design or methodology, (3) lack of publication, and (4) biased or inadequate reporting. This commentary, which was developed by a multidisciplinary group of researchers with spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) research expertise, discusses waste in SMT research and provides suggestions to improve future research. Main text: This commentary examines common sources of waste in SMT research, focusing on design and methodological issues, by drawing on prior research and examples from clinical and mechanistic SMT studies. Clinical research is dominated by small studies and studies with a high risk of bias. This problem is compounded by systematic reviews that pool heterogenous data from varying populations, settings, and application of SMT. Research focusing on the mechanisms of SMT often fails to address the clinical relevance of mechanisms, relies on very short follow-up periods, and has inadequate control for contextual factors. Conclusions: This call to action is directed to researchers in the field of SMT. It is critical that the SMT research community act to improve the way research is designed, conducted, and disseminated. We present specific key action points and resources, which should enhance the quality and usefulness of future SMT research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 16 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Chiropractic and Manual Therapies |
| Volume | 32 |
| Early online date | 14 May 2024 |
| DOIs |
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| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2024.
Funding
JH, SMR, and SV are members of the editorial board for Chiropractic & Manual Therapies but had no involvement in the processing, review, or editorial decision making of this submission and were blinded to the process. JH has received multiple grants from Danish and international funding sources including the Danish Chiropractic Research Fund. CEC is an editorial board member for JOSPT and the Director of the Center of Excellence in Manual and Manipulative Therapy at Duke University. DHS is an osteopathic practitioner and educator, serves as executive committee member of the Society for Back Pain Research, and has received consulting fees from Altern Health Ltd. MU is chief investigator or co-investigator on multiple previous and current research grants from the UK National Institute for Health Research, and is a co-investigator on grants funded by the Australian NHMRC and Norwegian MRC. He was an NIHR Senior Investigator until March 2021. He is a director and shareholder of Clinvivo Ltd that provides electronic data collection for health services research. He receives some salary support from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire. He is a co-investigator on two current and one completed NIHR funded studies that have, or have had, additional support from Stryker Ltd. SMR has received multiple grants from the Dutch-Belgian Research Institute of Chiropractic (DBRIC), the European Centre for Chiropractic Research and Excellence (ECCRE); serves as the Chair on the Research Commission of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) as well as works as a chiropractor in private practice. SLA, CN, and ES have no competing interests to declare.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Danish Chiropractic Research Fund | |
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | |
| National Health and Medical Research Council | |
| Norwegian MRC |
Keywords
- Methodology
- Research waste
- Spinal manipulative therapy