Abstract 5

Back pain (BP) is one of the most pervasive chronic pain conditions worldwide. SONIK (formerly known as Khan Kinetic Treatment or KKT),  a non-invasive BP treatment, has demonstrated significant clinical efficacy in the reduction of BP, improved symmetry and mobility of the spine and body, and health of discs and ligaments. SONIK consists of applying accelerated low frequency kinetically directed impulses (ALKINDI wave) to the spine across several treatment sessions. The novelty of this treatment modality demands rigorous examination of the effectiveness of the clinical decision-making process and determining if individual clinicians adhere to the recommended evidence-based treatment protocol.

This paper presents the protocol for a planned research study currently under HiREB review at McMaster. The objectives of the study are: (1) to assess and understand differences between retrospective actual clinical practice and theoretical best practice, and (2) to identify the relationships between patient outcomes and clinician treatment protocol adherence.

Retrospective data for a stratified random sample of 258 patients with BP will be drawn from five international SONIK (KKT) treatment clinics. Treatment data will be used to determine clinician adherence or non-adherence to the recommended evidence-based treatment protocol and to determine clinician reasoning within adherence or non-adherence. The paper will describe analysis to be used.

We hypothesise that individual clinicians may strongly base patient treatment decisions on previous training and clinical experience. The outcomes from this study will inform the improvement of the clinical decision-making process by educating clinicians on what constitutes best practice.