Chiropractic and CAM Utilization: A Descriptive Review

doi:10.1186/1746-1340-15-2

Table 5

Summary table for papers discussing specific conditions.

Name	Ref	Design	N/Np	Main Results
Ramsey	90	Survey and diary	124/122 (98%); adults with osteoporosis	47% used at least 1 form of CAM; massage therapy used by 57%, and chiropractic used by 20.7%.
VandeCreek	91	Patient interviews	112; breast cancer patients	Highest rates for prayer (84.5%) and exercise (75.8%); chiropractic used by 13.8%.
Shen	92	Patient interviews	115; breast cancer patients	84 of 115 used at least 1 form of CAM, and those that did were found to be higher educated; many people felt it strengthened their immune system; chiropractic used by less than 10% of the population.
Shinto	93	Mail survey	927/385 (42%); MS was focus of study	43% of NDs had treated patients with MS; 63% communicated with the patient's MD; diet was considered important.
Nayak	94	Mail survey	11,600/3140 (27%); MS patients	More than half used at least 1 form of CAM; the more dissatisfied they were with conventional care, the more likely they were to use CAM. Chiropractic ranked high, with over 25% seeing a chiropractor.
Furler	96	Patient interviews	104; HIV patients	77% reported use of CAM, with mind-body ranked highest (61.5%) and chiropractic use rated at 19.2%.
Bica	97	Cross-sectional analysis using repeated measures from a cohort study	642; HIV patients	60% used some form of an ingested CAM, while 40% used a non-ingested form; chiropractic not included in the analysis.
Wiwanitkit	98	Interview survey	160; HIV patients	95% used some form of Cam, and 78% visited a CAM practitioner; chiropractic not included.
Blanc	101	Telephone survey	455/300 (66%); asthma patients	42% used some form of CAM within the past 12 months
Ernst	102	Literature searches	26 surveys; cancer	50% of papers showed a use rate of up to 27% (range: 7–64%; average of 37.4%).
Lewith	103	Patient questionnaire	270/162 (60%); cancer patients	32% received at least 1 form of CAM; this was felt to offer palliative care; massage was most common.
Ceylan	105	Patient questionnaire	326/305 (94%); cancer patients	61% used at least 1 form of CAM; significant factors included birthplace, educational status and family type.
Harris	106	Mail survey	1697/1077 (63%); cancer patients	Half of those surveyed had used at least 1 form of CAM; 16.4% consulted a CAM practitioner; and dietary interventions were most common. 3.4% had used chiropractic services.
Unutzer	107	Telephone survey	9585; mental disorders	16.5% had used CAM in the last year; those with panic disorder and depression were most likely to be users.
Kessler	108	Telephone survey	2055; anxiety and depression	56.7% of those with anxiety attacks and 53.6% of those with depression used CAM in the last 12 months. Chiropractic care accounted for less than 1% of CAM use in this survey.
Simon	109	Systematic multi-state study of CAM providers	Acupuncture: 2561; Chiropractic: 2550; Massage: 2005; Naturopathy: 1817; mental health	Proportion oif visits for mental health ranged from 7–11% for all but chiropractors, who ranked at less than 1% of visits for mental health reasons.
Demling	110	Patient questionnaire	512/473 (92%); psychiatric patients	About one-third had seen a Heilpraktiker; 11% used chiropractic methods.
Sanders	112	Parent survey of children undergoing treatment	460/376 (82%); special needs children	64% used CAM ; children with cerebral palsy or spina bifida were more likely to use manipulation; 4% had used a chiropractor in the last 6 months, while 6% reported using when at some time in their life.
Schoenberg	113	Patient interviews	80; diabetics	25% used at least 1 form of CAM, with Hispanics using it most frequently (50%).
Rolniak	114	Descriptive study	174; patients presenting to the ER	47% used at least 1 form of CAM; chiropractic was used by 5.7%.
Li	115	Patient questionnaire	356; patients presenting to the ER	At visit, only 0.3% had recently seen a chiropractor, but 7% had seen one in the past 12 months.
Brunelli	116	Patient questionnaire	180; patients with peripheral neuropathy	43% used at least 1 form of CAM; chiropractic was used by 21% of patients. Megavitamin was most common (35%).
Wang	117	Mail survey	Not reported; surgical patients	57.4% used at least 1 form of CAM, with 23% using chiropractic care.
Kitai	118	Patient questionnaire	480; Israeli primary care patients	18% used CAM, with most using more than 1 form; homeopathy was most common (34%0, with chiropractic lumped in with "other" at (18%).