Do Chiropractors Identify with Complementary
and Alternative Medicine? Results of a Survey

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

FROM:   J Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2008; 14: 361–368

Redwood D, Hawk C, Cambron J, Vinjamury SP, Bedard J.

Cleveland Chiropractic College-Kansas City,
Kansas City, MO 64131, USA.

---

OBJECTIVE:   To conduct a descriptive review of the scientific literature examining use rates of modalities and procedures used by CAM clinicians to manage chronic LBP and other conditions

DATA SOURCES:   A literature of PubMed and MANTIS was performed using the key terms Chiropractic; Low Back Pain; Utilization Rate; Use Rate; Complementary and Alternative Medicine; and Health Services in various combinations.

DATA SELECTION:   A total of 137 papers were selected, based upon including information about chiropractic utilization, CAM utilization and low back pain and other conditions.

DATA SYNTHESIS:   Information was extracted from each paper addressing use of chiropractic and CAM, and is summarized in tabular form.

RESULTS:   Thematic analysis of the paper topics indicated that there were 5 functional areas covered by the literature: back pain papers, general chiropractic papers, insurance-related papers, general CAM-related papers; and worker's compensation papers.

CONCLUSION:   Studies looking at chiropractic utilization demonstrate that the rates vary, but generally fall into a range from around 6% to 12% of the population, most of whom seek chiropractic care for low back pain and not for organic disease or visceral dysfunction. CAM is itself used by people suffering from a variety of conditions, though it is often used not as a primary intervention, but rather as an additional form of care. CAM and chiropractic often offer lower costs for comparable results compared to conventional medicine.

Return to ALT-MED/CAM ABSTRACTS

Since 4-26-08