The research enterprise at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.

OBJECTIVES: A bibliometric survey was conducted, using network and textual analysis tools, to assess the current state of the research enterprise at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and to augment planning processes. METHODS: Searches were conducted via several databases to identify publications attributable to the institution. Bibliometric data were summarized and post-processed using the programme VosViewer and analysis tools provided in the Web of Science. RESULTS: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College is a productive source of peer-reviewed publications supported by a diverse suite of funding agencies and collaborating institutions, and published across a broad range of journals. CONCLUSIONS: As a private, single-purpose educational institution, awarding a qualification only in chiropractic, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College probably performs well in its class of institution in terms of research productivity. However, assessment is constrained by inconsistencies on the part of authors, journals and databases in archiving data.

OBJECTIFS: On a mené une enquête bibliométrique à l'aide d'outils d'analyse de réseau et d'analyse textuelle, pour évaluer l'effort de recherche actuel du Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College et améliorer les processus de planification. MÉTHODES: On a interrogé plusieurs bases de données pour trouver des articles publiés par le College. Les données bibliométriques ont été résumées et post-traitées à l'aide du programme VosViewer et des outils d'analyse fournis dans le Web of Science. RÉSULTATS: Le Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College est une source abondante de parutions évaluées par des pairs, soutenues par un ensemble diversifié d'organismes de financement et d'établissements collaborateurs, et publiées dans un large éventail de revues. CONCLUSIONS: À titre d'établissement d'enseignement privé à vocation unique, qui ne délivre qu'une seule attestation de compétence en chiropratique, le Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College fait probablement bonne figure dans sa catégorie d'établissements pour ce qui est de la productivité en recherche. Toutefois, l'évaluation est limitée par certaines incohérences entre les données archivées par les auteurs, les revues et les bases de données.

System Dynamics to Investigate Opioid Use and Chiropractic Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to create a system dynamics (SD) model, including published data and required assumptions, as a tool for future research identifying the role of chiropractic care in the management of chronic, nonmalignant pain in a Canadian population. METHODS: We present an illustrative case description of how we evaluated the feasibility of conducting a large-scale clinical trial to assess the impact of chiropractic care in mitigating excessive opioid use in Canada. We applied SD modeling using current evidence and key assumptions where such evidence was lacking. Modeling outcomes were highlighted to determine which potential factors were necessary to account for compelling study designs. RESULTS: Results suggest that a future clinical study diverting patients with nonmalignant musculoskeletal pain early to the chiropractic stream of care could be most effective. System dynamics modeling also highlighted design challenges resulting from unresearched assumptions that needed to be proxied for model completion. Assumptions included changing rates in opioid-associated deaths and rates of success in treatment management of addicted patients. CONCLUSION: In this case, SD modeling identified current research gaps and strong contenders for appropriate follow-up questions in a clinical research domain, namely the role of chiropractic care in the management of chronic, nonmalignant pain in a Canadian population.

Sample size calculations for blinding assessment.

Blinding is a critical component in randomized clinical trials along with treatment effect estimation and comparisons between the treatments. Various methods have been proposed for the statistical analyses of blinding-related data, but there is little guidance for determining the sample size for this type of data, especially if blinding assessment is done in pilot studies. In this paper, we try to fill this gap and provide simple methods to address sample size calculations for a "new" study with different research questions and scenarios. The proposed methods are framed in terms of estimation/precision or statistical testing to allow investigators to choose the best suited method for their goals. We illustrate the methods using worked examples with real data.