Chiropractic

Settlements from lawsuits against some of the largest companies at the center of the opioid
crisis will generate over $50 billion over the next 18 years. Recently published
recommendations from RAND advocate using funds to increase public awareness and
patient access to nonpharmacological therapies, including chiropractic care. Attendees will
explore a range of opportunities to leverage settlement funding to support non-opioid pain
management in their communities, and position chiropractic as an upstream prevention
strategy in the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Practice-relevant education can refer to the appropriateness of learning opportunities for students, or to the process of learning and developing skills through hands-on experience. 

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is influenced by interrelated biological, psychological, and social factors, however current back pain management is largely dominated by one-size fits all unimodal treatments. Team based models with multiple provider types from complementary professional disciplines is one way of integrating therapies to address patients’ needs more comprehensively.
Methods: This parallel group randomized clinical trial conducted from May 2007 to August 2010 aimed to evaluate the relative clinical effectiveness of 12 weeks of monodisciplinary chiropractic care (CC), versus multidisciplinary integrative care (IC), for adults with sub-acute and chronic LBP. The primary outcome was pain intensity and secondary outcomes were disability, improvement, medication use, quality of life, satisfaction, frequency of symptoms, missed work or reduced activities days, fear avoidance beliefs, self-efficacy, pain coping strategies and kinesiophobia measured at baseline and 4, 12, 26 and 52 weeks. Linear mixed models were used to analyze outcomes.
Results: 201 participants were enrolled. The largest reductions in pain intensity occurred at the end of treatment and were 43% for CC and 47% for IC. The primary analysis found IC to be significantly superior to CC over the 1-year period (P = 0.02). The long-term profile for pain intensity which included data from weeks 4 through 52, showed a significant advantage of 0.5 for IC over CC (95% CI 0.1 to 0.9; P = 0.02; 0 to 10 scale). The short-term profile (weeks 4 to 12) favored IC by 0.4, but was not statistically significant (95% CI − 0.02 to 0.9; P = 0.06). There was also a significant advantage over the long term for IC in some secondary measures (disability, improvement, satisfaction and low back symptom frequency), but not for others (medication use, quality of life, leg symptom frequency, fear avoidance beliefs, self- efficacy, active pain coping, and kinesiophobia). Importantly, no serious adverse events resulted from either of the interventions.
Conclusions: Participants in the IC group tended to have better outcomes than the CC group, however the magnitude of the group differences was relatively small. Given the resources required to successfully implement multidisciplinary integrative care teams, they may not be worthwhile, compared to monodisciplinary approaches like chiropractic care, for treating LBP.

Objectives: Transgender individuals commonly experience barriers to quality health care and may suffer from unique musculoskeletal complaints. Although these needs are often inadequately addressed within the health care system, they could be attended to by the chiropractic community. This narrative review describes best practices for delivering culturally sensitive care to transgender patients within the context of chiropractic offices.

Methods: A literature search generated peer-reviewed material on culturally competent care of the transgender community. Google Scholar and trans-health RSS feeds on social media were also searched to find relevant gray literature. Information pertinent to a chiropractic practice was identified and summarized.

Results: Contemporary definitions of transgender, gender identity, and sexual orientation provide a framework for culturally sensitive language and clinic culture. Small changes in record keeping and office procedures can contribute to a more inclusive environment for transgender patients and improve a chiropractor's ability to collect important health history information. Special considerations during a musculoskeletal examination may be necessary to properly account for medical and nonmedical practices transgender patients may use to express their gender. Chiropractors should be aware of health care and social and advocacy resources for transgender individuals and recommend them to patients who may need additional support.

Conclusions: Small yet intentional modifications within the health care encounter can enable chiropractors to improve the health and well-being of transgender individuals and communities.

The future of any profession is in the hands of its students and early career practitioners. The Millennial generation of chiropractors embody attributes that are uniquely suited to the evolving landscape of 21st-century healthcare. Globalization and rapid advancements in technology demand different styles of communication, attitudes toward diversity, styles of professional engagement, and perhaps most importantly, idealism about the future. Millennial chiropractors have a clear vision for this future of the profession and are equipped to actualize that ideal.

Students entering the doctor of chiropractic program at Northwestern Health Sciences University were offered three adaptive units on chemistry concepts deemed foundational for the two-course biochemistry series offered in the first two terms of the program. The effects of this remedial intervention offered to 3 incoming cohorts were assessed in a retrospective case-control approach by comparing several outcomes with a control group of similar size who started the program before the implementation of the adaptive units. Our calculations suggest that there is a positive effect of these adaptive units, in that the odds ratio for students to end the course with a grade of D or F decreased. The biggest impact on performance among 4 summative exams in the course was observed on the final exam, with an odds ratio of 2.3 to earn an A or B on the final, indicating that students who had access to the adaptive units had a substantially higher chance to earn a good grade. The odds ratio for students to earn an F or D on the final was 0.5, indicating a 50% lower risk for a low or failing score.

 Chiropractic care for older adults can play a crucial role in addressing age-related musculoskeletal issues and improving overall health and mobility. As people age, they often experience a decline in joint flexibility, muscle strength, and bone density, which can lead to conditions like osteoarthritis, spinal degeneration, and chronic pain. Chiropractic treatment offers a non-invasive, drug-free approach to managing these problems and enhancing the quality of life for older adults.