A New Multination Study Confirms Data from Sweden, 1999

In a Swedish study, published in 1999, researchers found that 23% of adult patients seeing a chiropractor for musculoskeletal conditions experienced positive non-musculoskeletal benefits after chiropractic treatments (a total of 1504 patients were treated by 87 members of the Swedish chiropractors association). The most common benefits were reported with respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, cardiac/circulatory problems and visual disturbances.

In 2005 these findings were supported by the World Federation of Chiropractic (member of the WHO) in a multi-national study compiling data from 7 different countries. In this study a total of 385 chiropractors treated 5.607 patients. It found that the most common areas patients reported improvements were respiratory disorders (27%), digestive disorders (26%) and circulatory problems (21%) and tinnitus (19%).

These studies revealed a dose-response relationship. In Sweden there was a positive association between the number of spinal areas treated and the number of reactions/benefits reported. In the multi-national study the increased response was related to the number of treatments given.

* References:
– Leboeuf-Yde C, Axén I et al. (1999) The Types and Frequencies of Improved Nonmusculoskeletal Symptoms Reported After Chiropractic Spinal Manipulative Therapy, J Manipulative Physiol Ther, 22(9): 559-564.
– Leboeuf-YdeC, Pedersen EV, Bryner P et al. (2005) Self Reported Nonmusculoskeletal Responses to Chiropractic Intervention: A Multination Survey, J. Mipulative Physiol Ther, 28: 294-3002.