Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104976

Michael T. Haneline, DC, MPH¹, Robert Cooperstein, MA, DC¹, and Lisa Z. Killinger, DC². (1) Department of Research, Palmer College of Chiropractic West, 90 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134, (2) Research, Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, 741 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52803, 319-884-5854, killinger_L@palmer.edu

There are an estimated 200 million chiropractic visits every year in the United States involving cervical spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) and many of these visits are for the treatment of acute neck pain (ANP). There are very few studies available that have dealt with this topic, however, and those that have been done involved small samples with correspondingly low power. Moreover, the investigation of the treatment of ANP by means of SMT has thus far been elusive and difficult to study for a number of reasons. One of the primary reasons concerns the fact that the duration of ANP is short, forestalling attempts to recruit, randomize, and perform baseline evaluations as done in randomized clinical trials. Accordingly, we consider that a practice-based research model is an excellent approach to investigating this topic. In this setting, practicing chiropractors are able to recruit ANP patients very early in the course of the condition and then begin treatment immediately.

This is a preliminary report of an observational study in a practice-based setting that was designed to prospectively follow chiropractic patients with ANP who received SMT and other modalities commonly used by chiropractors. Variables that were investigated dealt with patient satisfaction, symptomatic improvements, secondary conditions, preexisting trauma, and the frequency of visits. The specific spinal levels that were manipulated and numbers of manipulations applied to each particular cervical segment were also recorded. The results of this study depict the treatment of ANP by chiropractors and will facilitate the planning of future research.

Learning Objectives: