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Significant Journal Reports

The links below lead to summaries or full-text versions of important articles from peer-reviewed scientific journals. (Recently published items will be linked in the near future.) Please contact us to suggest articles that should be added to this page.

Advertising and Marketing

• Grod JP, Sikorski D, Keating J. Unsubstantiated claims in patient brochures from the largest state, provincial, and national chiropractic associations and research agencies. JMPT 24:514-519, 2001.
• Sikorski DM, Grod JP. The unsubstantiated Web site claims of chiropractic colleges in Canada and the United States. Journal of Chiropractic Education 17:113-119, 2003. Found that the Web sites of more than half the chiropractic colleges in North America make unsubstantiated claims for clinicl theories or methods.

Chiropractic care, cost and cost-effectiveness

• Assendelft WJJ, Bouter LM. Does the goose really lay golden eggs? A methodological review of workmen's compensation studies. JMPT 16:161-168, 1993.
• Carey TS and others. The outcomes and costs of care for acute low back pain among patients seen by primary care practitioners, chiropractors, and orthopedic surgeons. New England Journal of Medicine 333:913-917, 1995.
• Shekelle, PG and others. The effect of cost sharing on the use of chiropractic services. Medical Care 34:863-872, 1996.
• Skargren EI and others. One-year follow-up comparison of the cost and effectiveness of chiropractic and physiotherapy as primary management for back pain. Subgroup analysis, recurrence, and additional health care utilization. Spine 23:1875-1883, 1998.

Reliability of chiropractic procedures

• French SD, Green S, Forbes A. Reliability of chiropractic methods commonly used to detect manipulable lesions in patients with chronic low-back pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 23:231-238, 2000.
• Haas M. The reliability of reliability. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 19:199-208, 1991.
• Hawk C and others. Preliminary study of the reliability of assessment procedures for indications for chiropractic adjustments of the lumbar spine. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 22:382-389, 1999.
• Hestoek L, Leboeuf-Yde C. Are chiropractic tests for the lumbo-pelvic spine reliable and valid? A systematic critical literature review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 23:258-275, 2000.

Education

• Doxey TT, Phillips RB. Comparison of entrance requirements for health care professions. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 20:86-91, 1997.
• Freedman KB, Bernstein J. The adequacy of medical school education in musculoskeletal medicine. American Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 80:1421-1427, 1998.
• Nyiendo JA, Haldeman S. A critical study of the student interns' practice activities in a chiropractic college teaching clinic..JMPT 197-207, 1986.

Immunization

• Anderson R. Chiropractors for and against immunization. Medical Anthropology 12:169-186, 1990.
• Colley F, Haas M. Attitudes toward immunization: A survey of American chiropractors. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 17:584-590, 1994.
• Lee ACC and others. Chiropractic care for children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 154:401-407, 2000. [States that a 1998 survey of Boston chiropractors found that 30% reported actively recommended immunization, 7% reported recommending against immunization, and the rest (63%) reported that they did not make any recommendations or that they educated parents to allow them to make informed decisions.]

Spinal manipulation, appropriateness

• Aker PD, Martel J. Maintenance Care. Topics in Clinical Chiropractic 3(4):32-35, 1996. [Two Canadian chiropractors who conducted an extensive literature search found no scientific evidence supporting the widely held chiropractic belief that periodic spinal adjustments improve health status.]
• Gunnar BJ and others. A comparison of of osteopathic spinal manipulation with standard care for patients with low back pain. New England Journal of Medicine 341:1426-1431, 1999.
• Hawk C and others. Preliminary study of the reliability of assessment procedures for indications for chiropractic adjustments of the lumbar spine. JMPT 22:382-389, 1999.
• Shekelle PG and others. Congruence between decisions to initiate chiropractic spinal manipulation for low back pain and appropriateness criteria in North America. Annals of Internal Medicine 129:9-17, 1998. [full text]

Spinal manipulation, complications

• Assendelft WJJ, Bouter LM, Knipschild PG. Complications of spinal manipulation: A comprehensive review of the literature. Journal of Family Practice 42:475-80, 1996.
• Di Fabio R. Manipulation of the cervical spine: Risks and benefits. Physical Therapy 79:50-65, 1999.
• Haldeman S, Kohlbeck F, McGregor M. Cerebrovascular complications following cervical spine manipulation therapy: A review of 53 cases Conference Proceedings of the Chiropractic Centennial, July 6-8, 1995, 282-283. Davenport IA: Chiropractic Centennial Foundation, 1995. Summarizes 53 previously unreported cases from medicolegal files.
• Ernst E. Spinal manipulation: Its safety is uncertain. Canadian Medical Association Journal 166:40-41, 2002. [PDF]
• Haldeman S, Kohlbeck FJ, McGregor M. Risk factors and precipitating neck movements causing vertebrobasilar artery dissection after cervical trauma and spinal manipulation. Spine 24:785-794, 1999.
• Haldeman S and others. Unpredictability of cerebrovascular ischemia associated with cervical spine manipulation therapy. Spine 27:49-55, 2001.
• Lee KP and others. Neurologic complications following chiropractic manipulation: A survey of California neurologists. Neurology 45:1213-1215, 1995.
• Norris JW and others. Sudden neck movement and cervical artery dissection. Canadian Medical Journal 163:38-40, 2000. [PDF}
• Powell FC and others. A risk/benefit analysis of spinal manipulation therapy for revief of lumbar or cervical pain. Neurosurgery 33:73-79, 1993.
• Rotherwell DAM and others. Chiropractic manipulation and stroke. Stroke 32:1054-1059, 2001.

Spinal manipulation, effectiveness

• Assendelft WJJ and others. The relationship between methodological quality and conclusions in reviews of spinal manipulation. JAMA 274:1942-1948, 1995.
• Assendelft WJJ and others. The effectiveness of chiropractic for treatment of low back pain: An update and attempt at statistical pooling. JMPT 19:499-507, 1996.
• Assendelft WJJ and others. Spinal manipulative therapy for low back pain. Annals of Internal Medicine 138:871-881, 2003. [Conclusion: "There is no evidence that spinal manipulation is superior to other standard treatments for patients with acute or chronic low back pain."]
• Balon J and others: A comparison of active and simulated chiropractic manipulation as adjunctive treatment for childhood asthma. New England Journal of Medicine 339:1013-1020, 1998.
• Bove G, Nilsson N. Spinal manipulation in the treatment of episodic tension-type headache: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 280:1576-1579, 1998.
• Cherkin DC and others. A comparison of physical therapy, chiropractic manipulation, and provision of an educational booklet for the treatment of patients with low back pain. New England Journal of Medicine 339:1021-1029, 1998.
• Jordan A and others. Intensive training, physiotherapy, or manipulation for patients with chronic neck pain. A prospective, single-blinded, randomized clinical trial. Spine 23:311-318, 1998.
• Goetz CH and others. Treatment of Hypertension with Alternative Therapies (THAT) study: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Hypertension 20:2063-2068, 2002. [Spinal manipulation plus dietary counseling was no more effetive than dietary counseling alone.]
• Koes BW and others. Spinal manipulation for low back pain: An updated systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Spine 21:2860-2873, 1996.
• Lantz CA, Chen J. Effect of chiropractic intervention on small scoliotic curves in younger subjects: A time-series cohort design. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 24:385-393, 2001.
• Olafsdottir E and others. Randomised controlled trial of infantile colic treated with chiropractic spinal manipulation. Archives of Diseases in Childhood 84:138-141, 2001. [No benefit was found.]