Thoughts on the Chiropractic Literature
The modern chiropractic peer-reviewed literature started in the late 1970s. The literature had challenges from the start. The challenges included bias, limited availability of historical sources, and a trend to shift the focus of the profession towards the term “manipulative therapy.” This short video clip is part of a 2-hour lecture presented to The Chiropractic Philosophy Forum in Seattle on November 4, 2019. The full talk is available for TIC Members.
Some crucial conference proceedings that were published in the late 1970s and early 1980s included:
- Proceedings from The Research Status of Spinal Manipulative Therapy (1975)
- Proceedings from The NIH workshop on the neurobiologic mechanisms of
manual therapy (1977) - Proceedings from The ICA conference on the principles and practice of
chiropractic (1979)
This period was also the start of peer-reviewed history literature in chiropractic. The launch of the Association for the History of Chiropractic was a breakthrough in this regard. The journal Chiropractic History continues to be an excellent source of historical data and context for the profession. A more critical view of the actual articles from the first two decades of the journal is needed. We know so much more today that we need to ensure this older literature is corrected if there are factual errors.
The Summer 2019 issue includes a systematic content analysis of the Morikubo Trial. Several lectures on this paper are going live each month for TIC Members.
Other more recent documents in the literature, discussed in this short clip of the talk include:
- The ACC Paradigm
- The Three-year Delphi study – Consortium for Chiropractic Research
- Foundations of Vertebral Subluxation (2005)
- Chiropractic in North America: Toward a Strategic Plan for Professional Renewal (2006)
- The McDonald Study: How Chiropractors Think and Practice (2004)
The documents associated with these conferences and studies demonstrate the consensus around vertebral subluxation throughout the profession.
The issues brought up in this short clip have been addressed in two recent papers:
