Pediatrics

Retrospective Review of Case Records of School-aged Children Receiving Chiropractic Care

By Frank M. Painter|May 11, 2025|Chiropractic Care, Pediatrics|

Retrospective Review of Case Records of School-aged Children Receiving Chiropractic Care

SOURCE: J Bodyw Mov Ther 2025 (Jun): 42: 948–954

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Jenna Duehr • Lona Cook • Amanda Blonigen • Alice Cade • Tanja Glucina • Monika Buerger
Stephanie Sullivan • Tyson Perez • Muhammed Samran Navid
Imran Khan Niazi • Heidi Haavik

Centre for Chiropractic Research,
New Zealand College of Chiropractic,
Auckland, 1060, New Zealand

Background: Chiropractic care is utilized in school aged children for a variety of health complaints, including headaches, postural issues, nocturnal enuresis, neurodevelopmental disorders, and back pain. Chiropractic care, with its ability to impact sensorimotor integration, motor control and the prefrontal cortex, could therefore potentially benefit school aged children.

Methods: In this retrospective case series, records of patients presenting for chiropractic care at an onsite school chiropractic clinic were reviewed. Patients underwent 12 weeks of chiropractic care and completed three questionnaires and two sets of neurophysiological scans. The data from these questionnaires and scans were combined, averaged, and statistically analyzed.

Results: One hundred and eighty records of children aged 5-18 years from nine schools were included in the overall analyses. Statistically significant improvements were noted in the ‘health and activities’ sub-section and overall score of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ and in the hyperactivity domain of the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire.

Conclusion: This retrospective review of case records from children attending an onsite school chiropractic clinic has demonstrated some changes in health-related quality of life following a period of 12 weeks of chiropractic care. Further research using a clinical trial design is needed to extrapolate the findings and to assess causation.

Keywords: Chiropractic; Heart-rate variability; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Neurophysiology; Quality of life; School children; Surface electromyography; Thermography.

From the Full-Text Article:

Introduction

Childhood is a period of huge growth and development. The health and experiences of children during this critical time can have long-term impacts on disease rates, mental health, and overall well-being for the rest of their lives(Drozdz et al., 2021; Goodman et al., 2011; Middlebrooks., 2007; Marcus et al., 2022; Bellis et al., 2019). However, the health and wellbeing of children today is showing some alarming areas of decline and concern (Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022). Data from the National Survey of Children’s health in the US from 2016 to 2020 showed an increase in rates of anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders, and obesity (Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022)). The survey also showed declining rates of preventative medical visits, daily physical activity, and parents mental health (Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022). The decline in key areas of health is also evident from more historical data from the 2007 and 2011/2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (Initiative et al., 2024) which showed higher rates in many of the domains related to good health (preventative medical visits, physical activity) and lower rates of obesity, suggesting that the decline in key areas of children’s health has been evident for nearly two decades.

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Clinical Course of Spinal Pain in Adolescents: A Feasibility Study in a Chiropractic Setting

By Frank M. Painter|February 21, 2025|Chiropractic Management, Pediatrics, Spinal Joint Pain|

Clinical Course of Spinal Pain in Adolescents: A Feasibility Study in a Chiropractic Setting

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SOURCE: BMJ Open 2025 (Jan 30); 15 (1): e088834
Laura RC Montgomery • Steven J Kamper • Anika Young • Amber Beynon • Katherine A Pohlman • Lise Hestbæk • Mark J Hancock • Simon D French • Christopher G Maher • Michael S Swain

Faculty of Medicine and Health,
The University of Sydney,
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Design: Prospective feasibility study.

Objectives: To inform the design and conduct of a large-scale clinical cohort study investigating adolescents with moderate-to-severe spinal pain.

Setting: Chiropractic care in Sydney, Australia.

Participants: Adolescents aged 12-17 years with spinal pain (≥4/10 pain intensity score).

Methods: Adolescents and chiropractors completed baseline and week-12 follow-up questionnaires, with adolescents reporting pain intensity and recovery weekly via text messages during weeks 1-11. Questionnaire measures included spinal pain, pain coping, quality of life, physical activity, clinical assessment findings and care delivered. Chiropractors provided usual clinical care. We conducted a descriptive feasibility analysis.

Primary outcomes: (1) Recruitment rate, (2) response rate to each data collection instrument and (3) retention rate.

Results: From May 2021 to February 2023, 20 chiropractors from 10 clinics were enrolled (invited n=85). 10 chiropractors recruited 45 adolescents (15.4±1.4 years, 43% female) over 13.5 months, excluding an 8-month pause due to COVID-19 disruptions. The average recruitment rate was 0.6 adolescents/recruiting chiropractor/month. We achieved a 100% response to chiropractor baseline and follow-up questionnaires, 98% to adolescent baseline, 94% average response to combined weekly text messages and 93% retention of adolescents at study completion.

Conclusions: Our high response and retention rates demonstrate feasible data collection methods in this population. Addressing low recruitment by expanding the number and type of clinicians is necessary for a successful larger study.

Keywords: Adolescent; Back pain; Prognosis.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY.

This study used a prospective clinical cohort design to investigate the feasibility of studying adolescents with moderate to severe spinal pain in Australian chiropractic care.

Weekly data collection tracked pain intensity and recovery, providing valuable insight into the clinical course of spinal pain in adolescents.

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Measuring Musculoskeletal Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents

By Frank M. Painter|December 26, 2022|Chronic Pain, Musculoskeletal Pain, Pediatrics|

Measuring Musculoskeletal Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents

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SOURCE: J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017 (Oct); 47 (10): 712–730

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Zoe A. Michaleff, BAppSc (Phty), PhD, Steven J. Kamper, BSc, BAppSc, PhD, et al.

Primary Care Centre,
Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences,
Keele University,
Keele, Staffordshire
ST5 5BG United Kingdom.

Accurate, reliable, and timely assessment of pain is critical for effective management of musculoskeletal pain conditions. The assessment of pain in infants, children, and adolescents with and without cognitive impairment can be particularly challenging to clinicians for a number of reasons, including factors related to the consultation (eg, heterogeneous patient population, time constraints), the clinician (eg, awareness/knowledge of available pain scales), standardized assessment scales (eg, availability, psychometric properties, and application of each scale), the patient (eg, developmental stage, ability to communicate), and the context in which the interaction took place (eg, familiarity with the setting and physiological and psychological state).

As a result, pain is frequently not assessed or measured during the consultation and, in many instances, underestimated and undertreated in this population. The purpose of this article is to provide clinicians with an overview of scales that may be used to measure pain in infants, children, and adolescents.

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Effectiveness of Chiropractic Manipulation Versus Sham Manipulation for Recurrent Headaches in Children Aged 7-14 Years – A Randomised Clinical Trial

By Frank M. Painter|December 25, 2021|Headache, Pediatrics|

Effectiveness of Chiropractic Manipulation Versus Sham Manipulation for Recurrent Headaches in Children Aged 7-14 Years – A Randomised Clinical Trial

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SOURCE: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2021 (Jan 7); 29: 1

Susanne Lynge, Kristina Boe Dissing, Werner Vach, Henrik Wulff Christensen, and Lise Hestbaek

Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics,
University of Southern Denmark,
Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense M, Denmark.

Background: To investigate the effectiveness of chiropractic spinal manipulation versus sham manipulation in children aged 7–14 with recurrent headaches.

Methods: Design: A two-arm, single-blind, superiority randomised controlled trial.

Setting: One chiropractic clinic and one paediatric specialty practice in Denmark, November 2015 to August 2020.

Participants: 199 children aged 7 to 14 years, with at least one episode of headache per week for the previous 6 months and at least one musculoskeletal dysfunction identified.

Interventions: All participants received standard oral and written advice to reduce headaches. In addition, children in the active treatment group received chiropractic spinal manipulation and children in the control group received sham manipulation for a period of 4 months. Number and frequency of treatments were based on the chiropractor’s individual evaluation in the active treatment group; the children in the control group received approximately eight visits during the treatment period.

Primary outcome measures: ‘Number of days with headache’, ‘pain intensity’ and ‘medication’ were reported weekly by text messages, and global perceived effect by text message after 4 months. A planned fixed sequence strategy based on an initial outcome data analysis was used to prioritize outcomes. ‘Number of days with headache’ and ‘pain intensity’ were chosen as equally important outcomes of highest priority, followed by

Results: Chiropractic spinal manipulation resulted in significantly fewer days with headaches (reduction of 0.81 vs. 0.41, p = 0.019, NNT = 7 for 20% improvement) and better global perceived effect (dichotomized into improved/not improved, OR = 2.8 (95% CI: 1.5–5.3), NNT = 5) compared with a sham manipulation procedure. There was no difference between groups for pain intensity during headache episodes. Due to methodological shortcomings, no conclusions could be drawn about medication use.

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Spinal Pain in Pre-adolescence and the Relation with Screen Time and Physical Activity Behavior

By Frank M. Painter|May 2, 2021|Neck Pain, Pediatrics|

Spinal Pain in Pre-adolescence and the Relation with Screen Time and Physical Activity Behavior

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SOURCE: BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2021 (Apr 26); 22 (1): 7 393

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Anne Cathrine Joergensen, Katrine Strandberg-Larsen, Per Kragh Andersen, Lise Hestbaek, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen

Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health,
Faculty of Health and Medical Science,
University of Copenhagen,
Oster Farimagsgade 5, Box 2099,
DK-1014, Copenhagen K, Denmark.

Background: To investigate how screen time and physical activity behavior were associated with spinal pain in pre-adolescence.

Methods: This study included 45,555 pre-adolescents who participated in the 11–year follow-up of the Danish National Birth Cohort. The 11–year follow-up included self-reported information on computer and TV behavior, aspects of physical activity, as well as frequency and intensity of spinal pain (neck-, mid back- and low back pain). Data were linked with parental socioeconomic data from Statistics Denmark registers. Associations were estimated using multinomial logistic regression models. To account for sample selection, we applied inverse probability weighting.

Results: Duration of screen time was stepwise associated with the degree of spinal pain. Compared with those spending < 2 h/day in front of a screen, screen time of ≥6 h/day was associated with a substantially increased relative risk ratio (RRR) of severe pain for both girls (RRR: 2.49, 95% CI: 2.13–2.92) and boys (RRR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.65–2.32). Being physical inactive was likewise associated with higher likelihood of severe spinal pain (RRR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.10–1.34) relative to those being moderately active. We observed that being physically active was seemingly associated with lower risk of spinal pain among boys with high frequency of screen time.

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Maternal Report of Outcomes of Chiropractic Care for Infants

By Frank M. Painter|July 2, 2019|Patient Satisfaction, Pediatrics|

Maternal Report of Outcomes of Chiropractic Care for Infants

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SOURCE: J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2019 (Mar; 42 (3): 167–176

Joyce E. Miller, DC, PhD, Heather A. Hanson, DC, MSc, Mandy Hiew, BA, Derek S. Lo Tiap Kwong, BA, Zicheng Mok, BA, Yun-Han Tee, BA

Outpatient Teaching Clinic,
AECC University College,
Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the report by mothers of their infants’ condition before and after a trial of care provided by registered chiropractic clinicians in addition to ratings of satisfaction, cost of care, and reports of any adverse events or side effects. A second purpose was to report the demographic profile of infants who presented for care to 16 chiropractic clinics in the United Kingdom.

METHODS: This observational study prospectively collected reports by mothers of their infants’ demographic profiles and outcomes across several domains of infant behavior and their own mental state using the United Kingdom Infant Questionnaire. Participating registered chiropractors were recruited through the Royal College of Chiropractors annual meeting in January 2016, and 15 clinics and the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic University College teaching clinic volunteered to participate.

RESULTS: In all, 2001 mothers completed intake questionnaires and 1092 completed follow-up forms. Statistically significant (P < .05) improvements were reported across all aspects of infant behavior studied, including feeding problems, sleep issues, excessive crying, problems with supine sleep position, infant pain, restricted cervical range of motion, and time performing prone positioning. Maternal ratings of depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with motherhood also demonstrated statistically significant improvement (P < .05). In total, 82% (n = 797) reported definite improvement of their infants on a global impression of change scale. As well, 95% (n = 475) reported feeling that the care was cost-effective, and 90.9% (n = 712) rated their satisfaction 8 or higher on an 11–point scale. Minor self-limiting side effects were reported (5.8%, n = 42/727) but no adverse events.

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