A Prospective Study of 2,000 Patients Attending a Chiropractic College Teaching Clinic

Epidemiology: Spinal manipulation utilization

“…Under the assumption that the vast majority (greater than 80%) of chiropractic patients receive spinal manipulation (Nyiendo and Haldeman, 1987;Shekelle and Brook, 1991;Hurwitz et al, 1998;Nyiendo et al, 2001;Mootz et al, 2005), about 4% of persons in the US had spinal manipulation in 1980 (Mugge, 1984(Mugge, ), whereas between 1974(Mugge, and 1982.5% (41 visits per 100 person-years) received chiropractic services (Shekelle and Brook, 1991). An estimated 10% of the US population sought chiropractic care in 1990 with an average 13 visits per patient (Eisenberg et al, 1993); however, estimates declined from 9.9% in 1997 to 7.6% in 1999 (Ni et al, 2002) and 7.4% in 2002 (Tindle et al, 2005;Barnes et al, 2004).…”

“…Patients have reported very good or excellent satisfaction or perceived helpfulness with care that has included spinal manipulation (Nyiendo and Haldeman, 1987;Hansen and Futch, 1997;Coulter et al, 2002;Coulter and Shekelle, 2005;Licciardone and Herron, 2001;Hertzman-Miller et al, 2002;Hurwitz et al, 2005;Wolsko et al, 2003;Gaumer, 2006;Boudreau et al, 2006). Ninety-four percent of participants treated with chiropractic spinal manipulation in a recent World Games reported immediate improvement (Nook and Nook, 2011).…”

Cost, Controversy, Crisis: Low Back Pain and the Health of the Public

“…By 1987, the number of chiropractors exceeded 30,000 (2). Though chiropractic claims are made for success with other conditions, nearly half the patients who seek chiropractic care do so for back pain (50). Although chiropractors use an unsubstantiated pathogenetic concept (vertebral subluxation) and are proscribed from using many sophisticated diagnostic tests, they enjoy substantial success in the management of back pain.…”

The Chiropractic Care of Children

“…These visits are to address a myriad of diagnoses such as pain, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract problems, ear infections, enuresis, and hyperactivity. [3][4][5] In a study characterizing the chiropractic care of children, Lee and colleagues 3 extrapolated that pediatric patients made some 30 million visits to chiropractors in 1997. This was a 50% increase during a 4-year period from a previous estimate of 20 million visits.…”

“…27 However, our findings are not consistent with previous chiropractic studies characterizing the chiropractic care of children. Nyiendo and Olsen, 5 in characterizing the visits of 217 children at a chiropractic teaching clinic, found that 42% suffered from musculoskeletal complaints and only 20% from nonmusculoskeletal complaints. Verhoef and Papadopoulos, 28 in a cross-sectional survey of 1200 Canadian chiropractors (response rate of 59%), found that musculoskeletal complaints, headaches, and muscular sprain/strain dominated the types of indicated pediatric clinical presentations.…”