Norman J Stomski

• PhD
• Research Officer at Murdoch University

Background: This study aimed to validate a questionnaire to address an absence of a measure to evaluate Australian chiropractic students' perceptions of the quality of chiropractic programs. Method: Potential relevant questionnaire items were selected from the Australian chiropractic accreditation standards. Chiropractic students rated these ite...

Background Workplace bullying has diverse consequences at both the organisational and individual level. Anecdotal reports indicate that workplace bullying is an issue of particular concern for Australian FIFO workers, which may impact on psychosocial distress. However, no prior studies have examined this issue empirically in a FIFO worker cohort....

Background: In Australia, about 1 in 3 chiropractors choose not to belong to either of the two professional associations and this is considerably lower compared to other health professional organisations in this country. The reasons for this remain unknown. We sought to explore possible reasons by asking chiropractic students their perceptions of...

Background: No instruments are currently available to assess nursing students' maintenance of situation awareness. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Performance-Based Situation Awareness Observation Schedule for measuring nursing students' use of situation awareness. Method: Twelve expert clinicians participated in a qualitat...

Objectives: To explore Australian mental health carers’ prioritisation of key elements of caregiving and establish the extent to which particular issues contribute to carer burden. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: All Australian States and Territories. Participants: Responses were received from 231 Australian mental health caregivers. M...

Objectives. The primary objective of this study was to establish whether clinical depression and increased suicide risk differed between Australian fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers and their residential counterparts in the resources sector. We also sought to identify whether bullying and social support were associated with depression and suicide risk...

Background: The shift towards providing mental healthcare in the community has resulted in caregivers becoming more involved in the delivery of these services. Supporting mental health consumers can be burdensome which, in conjunction with the anguish that may result from observing their relative develop a mental illness, can lead to carers experie...

Objective: This study examined the association between anxiety and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in Australian chiropractic students, particularly its effect on quality of life. Methods: Chiropractic students (n = 185) completed online surveys, including the Oral Health Impact Profile forTMDs (OHIP-TMD) and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure...

This study examines the association between suicide risk and social support in Australian resource sector employees. We included 150 participants, who completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale and MOS‐Social Support Survey. Data were analyzed using smallest space analysis and multidimensional scalogram analysis. The analysis identified four distinct re...

The level of carer burden has increased as carers take on more responsibility for mental health consumers as a result of the contemporary shift in the delivery of services from institutional to community settings. Interventions are required to mitigate mental health carer burden. Therefore, we examined the association between dispositional gratitud...

Background Anxiety is inherent in the everyday life of a nursing student. One of the physiological disorders associated with anxiety is temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Although the relationship between TMD and anxiety is well established, temporomandibular-related symptoms in nursing students has yet to be examined. Aim To investigate the associ...

Background: Effective pain management is unlikely to occur without consistent and timely assessments.To improve assessment and management of pain, ward-based pain resource nurses were introduced in 2007 to facilitate hospital-wide evidence-based practice changes using three key targets. One-year post implementation of this quality improvement proje...

Advocacy plays a vital role in ensuring that mental health consumers’ rights are maintained. However, the primary issues for which consumers seek advocacy support remain unknown. Understanding these issues provides a sound basis from which advocacy organisations may develop a clear service delivery focus. This study addresses the literature gap thr...

Mental health caregivers commonly have detailed insight about consumers’ lives, and therefore often have developed an understanding of the manner in which antipsychotic medication affects consumers. This study explored caregivers’ perspectives of key factors that influence mental health consumers’ use of antipsychotic medications. The analysis was...

Background: Several studies report that patient safety skills, especially non-technical skills, receive scant attention in nursing curricula. Hence, there is a compelling reason to incorporate material that enhances non-technical skills, such as situation awareness, in nursing curricula in order to assist in the reduction of healthcare related adve...

Abstract Objective To examine the effectiveness of a multifaceted complementary therapies intervention, delivered in a systematic manner within an Australian public hospital setting, on quality of life and symptom distress outcomes for cancer patients. Methods Adults receiving treatment for any form of cancer were eligible to participate in this s...

Background Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is among the most common spinal deformities affecting adolescents. The Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire is commonly used to assess health-related quality of life in AIS patients, including pain. The objective of this study is to verify the psychometric properties of the Scoliosis Research...

Background Facilitation of service user participation in the co-production of mental healthcare planning and service delivery is an integral component of contemporary mental health policy and clinical guidelines. However, many service users continue to experience exclusion from the planning of their care. This review synthesizes qualitative researc...

Given the emphasis on the use of antipsychotic medication for severe mental illness, it is important to understand family carers’ perspectives on these medications and their effects on consumers’ lives. Such information may enable providers of family interventions to better understand families’ circumstances and more effectively support them in car...

Background Numerous methodological limitations have constrained the findings of previous studies that have examined the prevalence of low back pain in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. This article presents a study protocol that has been designed to address the shortcomings of prior research in this area. In addition, it will establish the lev...

Background: Current Australian mental health policy recommends that carers should be involved in the provision of mental health services. Carers often provide intensive support to mental health consumers and gain detailed insight into their lives. As such, carers could make valuable contributions to well-informed decisions about mental health consu...

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of clinical trials of spinal manipulative therapy for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Methods Search strategies were developed for PubMed, CINHAL, and CENTRAL databases. Studies were included through June 2016 if they were prospective trials that evaluated spinal ma...

Practical examples of the steps involved in the planning and execution of the multiple sorting task are frequently lacking in published reports. This audited staff activity demonstrates how the multiple sorting task can used to structure conversations with a group of health professionals planning an international placement for nursing students. Six...

Background: Few studies have examined mental health consumers' motives for seeking advocacy assistance. Aims: This study aimed to identify factors that influenced mental health consumers' use of advocacy services. Methods: The analysis was based on 60 case records that were sourced from a community advocacy service. Each record was dichotomously...

Background Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is the most common spinal deformity occurring in adolescents and its established prevalence varies from 2 to 3%. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has been identified as a potential risk factor for the development of low back pain in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to systematically review studies...

Advocates perform an important role in representing the rights of mental health consumers, especially since mental health consumers are often marginalized. Little is known about the processes advocates use to assist mental health consumers in navigating the healthcare system. This study details the manner in which advocates work together with menta...

Background Anatomy apps supplement traditional learning; however, it is unknown if their use can improve students’ outcome. The present study examined whether the use of anatomy apps improved student performance on a neuroanatomy assessment. Methods Second-year anatomy students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Science with Chiropractic Major program, we...

Antipsychotic medication has long been one of the first-line interventions for people with serious mental illness, with outcomes including reductions in symptoms and relapse rates. More recently, however, questions have been raised about the efficacy of antipsychotic medications, especially in light of their side-effect profile. Such questions have...

Background: Currently, little is known about mental health nurses’ management of antipsychotic medication side effects. Aims: This study examined how Australian mental health nurses’ attitudes and service processes influence the assessment of antipsychotic medication side effects. Methods: Participants were included if they were registered nurses...

Introduction: Limited evidence suggests that only a minority of mental health nurses regularly use standardized assessment tools to assess antipsychotic medication side effects, but the factors that contribute to the non-routine use of these tools remain unknown. Aim: To examine Australian mental health nurses’ awareness of, and attitudes towards,...

Objective: Mental health nurses play a central role in delivering health care to people with severe mental health problems. Since antipsychotic medication remains the principal treatment for severe mental health conditions, an integral element of this role involves monitoring the effectiveness of medication and resultant side effects. The objective...

Lumbar lordosis may be a risk factor for injury in junior-level athletes involved in sport which requires excessive amounts of extension. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between lumbar lordosis in junior-level cricket players with and without previous low back injury. Results demonstrated a statistically significant differ...

Eliciting clinicians' views about antipsychotic medication side-effects may assist in understanding strategies that could enhance the identification and management of these side-effects. The present paper details the development and psychometric evaluation of a questionnaire that captures clinicians' perceptions about these issues. An initial item...

Abstract # 1010 Poster Amanda J. Meyer1, C. Dominique Losco2, Norman J. Stomski 3and Anthony J. Armson4 1 School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, 2 School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, 3School of Health Professions, Murdoch University, 4School of Health Professions, Murdoch University A.Meyer@murdoch.edu.au Self-directed u...

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to critically appraise the psychometric properties of antipsychotic medication side effect assessment tools. Methods: Systematic searches were undertaken in PubMed, CINAHL and CENTRAL from inception to October 2014. Studies were included if they detailed the evaluation of psychometric properties o...

Despite the impact of side effects on adherence to medication regimes, few previous studies have examined the personal concerns of those prescribed antipsychotic medications. This study explores consumer perceptions of the support they receive from mental health staff for antipsychotic medication side effects. Semi-structured interviews were used t...

This study examined case managers' views about antipsychotic medications and the impact of side-effects on mental health consumers in a community setting. Nine case managers were purposively sampled and interviewed. Content analysis was used to generate a series of themes. The findings indicated that case managers perceived that a lack of consumer...

Trivial pain or minor soreness commonly follows neck manipulation and has been estimated at one in three treatments. In addition, rare catastrophic events can occur. Some of these incidents have been ascribed to poor technique where the neck is rotated too far. The aims of this study were to design an instrument to measure competency of neck manipu...

Ubiquitous smartphone ownership and reduced face-to-face teaching time may lead to students making greater use of mobile technologies in their learning. This is the first study to report on the prevalence of mobile gross anatomy software applications (apps) usage in pre-clinical chiropractic students and to ascertain if a relationship exists betwee...

Introduction. Manual therapists commonly use assessments of intervertebral motion to determine the need for spinal manipulation, but the reliability of these procedures demonstrates conflicting results. The objectives of this study were to investigate the interrater reliability of thoracic spine motion palpation for perceived joint restriction and...

The present study explores people's experience of living with antipsychotic medication side-effects. Qualitative data were gathered through semistructured interviews with 10 mental health consumers in a community care setting in Australia. The interview transcriptions were content analysed, and enhanced by combining manifest and latent content. Imp...

Anatomical education is becoming modernized, not only in its teaching and learning, but also in its assessment formats. Traditional "steeplechase" examinations are being replaced with online gross anatomy examinations. The aims of this study were to: (1) determine if online anatomy practical examinations are equivalent to traditional anatomy practi...

This paper presents the experiences of four researchers working within, alongside and for the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The focus of the research was a health and education needs analysis of Gumala Aboriginal Corporation members that would inform future education and health planning in the region. The...

Purpose Successful interviews are underpinned by several important processes that researchers must take account of. These include: (1) understanding the meaning of participation in research, (2) acquiring informed consent, (3) establishing rapport, (4) managing boundaries between research and helping, and (5) embracing consumer participation in re...

The present study explores Australian case managers' perceptions of mental health consumers' use of antipsychotic medications and the side-effects resulting from these medications. Semistructured interviews were used to elicit material from nine case managers in a community care setting in South–East Queensland, Australia. Content analysis was used...

Background: Skeletal muscle plays an important role in maintaining the stability of the lumbar region. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding the effects of exercise on trunk muscle morphology. Objective: To systematically review the literature on the effects of exercise training on lower trunk muscle morphology to determine the compar...

Objectives To explore the experience of acupuncture care from the perspective of people with chronic low back pain. Methods A grounded theory, qualitative study using indepth interviews was undertaken with 11 people who had received acupuncture care for chronic low back pain. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Initial, focused...

To explore the experience of acupuncture care from the perspective of people with chronic low back pain. A grounded theory, qualitative study using indepth interviews was undertaken with 11 people who had received acupuncture care for chronic low back pain. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Initial, focused and theoretical co...

The development of clinical practice guidelines for managing spinal pain have been informed by a biopsychosocial framework which acknowledges that pain arises from a combination of psychosocial and biomechanical factors. There is an extensive body of evidence that has associated various psychosocial factors with an increased risk of experiencing pe...

Research into chiropractors' use of evidence in clinical practice appears limited to a single small qualitative study. The paucity of research in this area suggests that it is timely to undertake a more extensive study to build a more detailed understanding of the factors that influence chiropractors' adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP) princ...

Aim: To identify Indigenous people's views about gaps and practical solutions for the delivery of healthcare services in the Pilbara. Methods: A structured guide was used to interview three Indigenous language groups from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The responses were analysed with the use of content analysis. In the first stage, co...

STUDY DESIGN: Parallel-group randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVE: Establish the short-term effectiveness of chiropractic therapy for spinal pain compared with a sham intervention and explore the predictors of chiropractic treatment satisfaction. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Chiropractic treatment is widely used for spinal pain. However, a lack of...

Background and aims: Skeletal muscle plays an important role in maintaining the stability of the lumbar region and reducing injury risk. Exercise training may increase strength and cross sectional area of trunk muscles, however the most effective exercise intervention for training the complex trunk musculature is currently not known. Therefore, we...

Study design: Blinded parallel-group randomized controlled trial. Objective: Establish the frequency and severity of adverse effects from short-term usual chiropractic treatment of the spine when compared with a sham treatment group. Summary of background data: Previous studies have demonstrated that adverse events occur during chiropractic tr...

Study design: Parallel-group randomized controlled trial. Objective: Establish the short-term effectiveness of chiropractic therapy for spinal pain compared with a sham intervention and explore the predictors of chiropractic treatment satisfaction. Summary of background data: Chiropractic treatment is widely used for spinal pain. However, a la...

Purpose: To explore health professionals' views about Australian Indigenous people's health and the delivery of healthcare to them in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Methods: An open-ended questionnaire was used to gather information from health professionals located across diverse regions in the Pilbara. The responses were analysed wit...

The purpose of this study was to systematically search the literature for studies reporting serious adverse events following lumbopelvic spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) and to describe the case details. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library up to January 12, 2012, by an experienced...

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that adverse events occur during chiropractic treatment. However, because of these studies design we do not know the frequency and extent of these events when compared to sham treatment. The principal aims of this study are to establish the frequency and severity of adverse effects from short term usu...

Adverse Events in Chiropractic Care Questionnaire. Survey instrument developed for this study to gather information about adverse events.

Earlier studies have associated improvements in chronic pain outcomes with various consultation attributes, including: the legitimization of people's chronic pain experience, affective components of the therapeutic relationship, and reaching decisions about people's care through collaboration. Although studies have used patient self-report measures...

To examine Australian acupuncturists' perspectives of: chronic low back pain outcome domains; their use of outcome measures to assess chronic low back pain; and their attitudes and perceptions of barriers to using the existing measures to evaluate acupuncture care for chronic low back pain. A postal questionnaire was used in a cross-sectional surve...

To examine South Australian acupuncturists' attitudes towards the use of research evidence and concurrently identify predicative factors associated with the uptake and implementation of research evidence. Questionnaires were mailed out to the entire South Australian acupuncturist population (n=94). The population was divided into two groups, medica...