An appraisal of adverse event reporting systems in chiropractic: a thesis presented in candidature for the degree of Master of Research

Heath care disciplines aim to deliver care that is free from harm. Adverse event reporting is a part of this effort. However, systems that record adverse events have developed differently across disciplines. Worldwide, chiropractic has been slow to develop adverse event reporting systems. There are currently no Australian-based chiropractic adverse event reporting systems. The aims of this project are to describe the components of the current chiropractic adverse event reporting systems, to compare these systems to adverse event reporting systems in other health disciplines and to outline the design and testing of an Australian-based chiropractic adverse event reporting system. Data collected by the chiropractic systems is similar in nature to data collected by other systems with a high rate of practitioner non-compliance across both types of systems. There is no data collected on the total number of chiropractic interventions being administered. Designing a chiropractic adverse event reporting system that collects data on all interventions including those with and without adverse events would enable accurate assessments of the incidence of adverse events associated with chiropractic intervention. The design and method for testing of an Australian-based adverse event reporting system is described.