title: Prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias in a community based chiropractic practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of arrhythmias in chiropractic practice (the proportion of current patients who currently have arrhythmias) is unknown, but thought to be increasing. As arrhythmias influence management of chiropractic patients, the objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of screening for cardiac arrhythmias in a chiropractic clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  With a convenience sample from one clinic, ECG data were recorded and analyzed to identify arrhythmias.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-six of ninety contacted patients participated in this study. Only 8 (∼26%) of 31 patients with known or suspected cardiovascular abnormalities demonstrated arrhythmias versus 7 (∼16%) of 45 subjects who were not previously aware of having an arrhythmia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The screening of patients for cardiac arrhythmias in a community based chiropractic clinic is feasible. A 3-minute recording of ECG activity at rest is not a highly sensitive method of identifying patients with previously recognized arrhythmias, but is capable of identifying previously undiagnosed arrhythmias.
authors.affiliation: private practice, Toronto, Canada. suzannepadhi@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Padhi
authors.affiliation: private practice, Toronto, Canada. nasreenp865@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Nasreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: private practice, Thorold, Ontario, Canada. driscollchiropractic@bellnet.ca.
authors.forename: Darcy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Driscoll
authors.affiliation: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Canada. bbudgell@cmcc.ca.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Budgell
keywords: arrhythmia; prevalence; screening