When there is little or no research evidence: a clinical decision tool

Despite advancements in research and guidelines of healthcare, there are still situations where clinicians may lack experience or face limited evidence to inform decision-making. In these situations, healthcare providers should provide care within their scope of practice considering all available evidence-based options, the patient's preferences, and the clinical context through a clinical expertise lens. This decision-making tool serves as a guide for patient-centred clinical decision-making in chiropractic care. It integrates clinical expertise with the pillars of evidence-based practice, taking into account the best available research evidence, patient preferences, and the clinical context. Examples are provided on using the tool within chiropractic care for conditions with large bodies of supporting evidence (e.g., low back pain), and conditions with little to no evidence (e.g., Parkinson's disease), to illustrate the broad applicability of how to use (and how not to use) this tool in the field of chiropractic care.

This paper is one of seven in a series exploring contemporary perspectives on the application of the evidence-based framework in chiropractic care. The Evidence-Based Chiropractic Care (EBCC) initiative aims to support chiropractors in their delivery of optimal patient-centred care. We encourage readers to review all papers in the series.