The Chiropractic profession has always relied on clinical research and experimentation. Chiropractic research is occurring around the world. Also, the chiropractic colleges are active in research, as are several excellent research organizations which adhere to the strictest scientific standards.
This is a partial listing of scientific studies and research outlining the benefits of chiropractic care.
The New Zealand Report, which was one of the most thorough studies of chiropractic care. A government commission conducted the twenty-month project. Chiropractors, medical doctors and researchers from all over the world contributed to the project. The 3,000 page report concluded: "We are satisfied that chiropractic treatment .is remarkably safe. Tens of thousands patients have gone through chiropractor's hands (and) they have apparently suffered no ill effects. We have no doubt that chiropractor's training adequately equips them to carry out their techniques without harm to the patient" Chiropractors have more thorough training in spinal mechanics and spinal care than any other health professional. Furthermore, chiropractic is scientifically based and must be made an integral part of all hospital care. Finally, the report said that "modern chiropractic is a soundly based and valuable branch of health care in a specialised area neglected by the medical profession."
This report of health care costs for on-the-job injuries in Florida found that chiropractic care was almost half the cost of medical treatment. Researchers concluded that chiropractic care is a "cost-effective approach to the management of work related injuries.
Similar studies performed in Oregon and California found that patients who received chiropractic care for their injury returned to work twice a fast as those who received medical care.
The British Medical Research Council documented a ten-year study that compared chiropractic and hospital outpatient management of 74 patients with acute and chronic mechanical low back pain. This study was conducted by T.W. Meade, M.D. It is considered the single-most important original research, which scientifically demonstrates that chiropractic, really works. The results showed that chiropractic care was twice as effective than medical treatment for patients with chronic and severe pain. Furthermore, these results were long-term and remained consistent throughout the two-year follow-up period. Chiropractic was also shown to save the British Government more than £10 million a year by having hospital outpatients with low back pain under chiropractic care.
Neurologists, medical orthopedists and chiropractors on behalf of the RAND Corporation, an internationally recognized non-profit research organization, conducted an exhaustive study of chiropractic. They found spinal manipulation (as used by chiropractors) to be an effective and appropriate treatment for low back disorders.
Researchers discovered that patients treated by manipulation improved significantly faster as compared to those treated by medical care or having no treatment at all.
This study compared health care costs of patients who received chiropractic care for neuromusculoskeletal problems with those treated solely by medical and osteopathic physicians.
After reviewing nearly 2,000,000 chiropractic records, researcher Miron Stano, Ph.D., of Oakland University, concluded that patients that receive chiropractic care, either solely or in conjunction with medical care, experienced significantly lower health care costs.
The Ontario Government's Medical Health Care Program commissioned a chiropractic study, headed by Pran Manga, Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa. After an in-depth analysis, the Manga Report concluded that there was an "overwhelming body of evidence" that chiropractic management, within its realm, is greatly superior to medical management in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost effectiveness and patient satisfaction." He also concluded that significant cost savings would occur if the management of low back pain were transferred from physicians to chiropractors. He determined that chiropractic is safer than medical management of low back pain. "Many medical therapies are of questionable validity or are clearly inadequate. Chiropractic care is greatly superior to medical treatment in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost effectiveness and patient satisfaction."
In 1994, the U.S. government's Agency for Health Care Policy and research commissioned a five-year study to assess various methods of treating low-back pain. The panel of researchers included medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists and nurses.
After reviewing nearly 4,000 scientific studies, the 23-member panel of experts set forth national guidelines to establish safe, effective and cost-containing approaches to managing acute low-back pain.
The report clearly discouraged the use of injections, bed rest and surgery. The researchers concluded, "Spinal manipulation is effective in reducing pain and speeding recovery."
In June 1998, a second breakthrough study was funded by the U.S. government's Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).
This collaboration among scholars, researchers, medical doctors and chiropractors resulted in a 100-page report highlighting the valuable role of chiropractic care. The report states, "It has takes 100 years of self-directed, bootstrap efforts utilizing internal funds to bring chiropractic into the mainstream of health care ...today the scope of chiropractic research now parallels that of medical research."