The Safety of Chiropractic for Children
A Researcher's Perspective
Joel Alcantara,
D.C.
Originally published I.C.P.A.
Newsletter
March - April 2002
“As chiropractic care for children continues to develop within
our profession; organizations with questionable interests continue
to attack its safety and efficacy with baseless facts and
half-truths.”
The Safety of Pediatric Chiropractic
A survey study examining the practice characteristics and
pediatric care of chiropractors(1) in the Boston area estimated that
approximately 420,000 pediatric chiropractic visits were made in
the Boston metropolitan area alone for 1998. If extrapolated for
the rest of the United States and Canada, the number of
chiropractic visits to children in one year would be enormous
numbering in several million visits. Given this high utilization
rate of pediatric chiropractic services in the United States and
Canada, statistics should indicate a great number of morbidity and
mortality. On the contrary, there exists little evidence of harm to
children from chiropractic.
When the Canadian Pediatric Society published their position
statement on, “Chiropractic Care for Children: Controversies and
Issues,” (2) they addressed the issue
of “The Safety of Chiropractic in Paediatrics,” Only one case
report of vertebrobasilar occlusion in a seven-year-old was cited.
It occurred following gymnastics and repeated chiropractic
manipulations of the cervical spine (3). They further readily admit
that, “Reports of other paediatric complications are few.”
In Perspective:
Its been estimated that the annual cost of medication-related
problems in the United States is approximately $84.6 billion
(4,5)
The human impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (i.e.,
aspirin)–related gastrointestinal deaths have been estimated at
rates higher than that found from deaths due to cervical cancer,
asthma or malignant melanoma (6)
Medication errors and adverse drug
events are three times higher in children and substantially higher
still for neonates (7).
The list could go on...
Chiropractic for Children is Here to Stay.
Millions of children and their families will continue to
experience the benefits of this safe and efficacious form of
healthcare called chiropractic. Chiropractic researchers are
looking into the salutary effects of chiropractic care in children
with subluxations and concomitant conditions like ADHD, asthma,
colic and others. When two forms of healthcare meet at the
crossroads of patient care, there will be controversy.
As a researcher, all I ask is an honest and open dialog about the
issues at hand so that all are informed. When a medical doctor
questions the chiropractic care for children and not the growing
use of stimulants, antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs in
children as young as 2-4 years of age (9), then their motives come into question. In
future articles, I will discuss the efficacy and safety of
Chiropractic care for children in topics from A-Z (i.e., from ADHD
to the use of x-rays in chiropractic practice) based on the
scientific literature for the benefit of the readers to be
informed.
References
1-Lee AC, Li DH, Kemper KJ. Chiropractic care for children. Arch
Pediatr Adolesc Med 2000;154:401-407.
2-www.cps.ca/english/index.htm
3-Hondras MA, Linde K, Jones AP. Manual therapy for asthma
(Cochrane Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2001;1:CD001002.
4-Johnson JA, Bootman JL. Drug-related morbidity and mortality. A
cost-of-illness model. Arch Intern Med 1995;155:1949-1956.
5-Bates DW, Spell N, Cullen DJ, Burdick E, Laird N, Petersen LA,
Small SD, Sweitzer BJ, Leape LL. The costs of adverse drug events
in hospitalized patients. Adverse Drug Events Prevention Study
Group. JAMA 1997;277:307-311.
6-Singh G.Gastrointestinal complications of prescription and
over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: a view from
the ARAMIS database. Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical
Information System.Am J Ther. 2000;7:115-121.
7-Kaushal R, Bates DW, Landrigan C, McKenna KJ, Clapp MD, Federico
F, Goldmann DA. Medication errors and adverse drug events in
pediatric inpatients. JAMA 2001;285:2114-2120.
8-Zito JM, Safer DJ, dosReis S, Gardner JF, Boles M, Lynch F.Trends
in the prescribing of psychotropic medications to preschoolers.
JAMA 2000;23:1025-1030.
Dr. Joel Alcantara has published widely in scientific
journals and in the popular chiropractic media and has co-authored
several chapters in various chiropractic textbooks. Former
instructor at two chiropractic colleges, Dr. Alcantara has accepted
the position of Research Director of the Children’s Chiropractic
Research Foundation the profession’s first full time organization
of its kind. He can be reaced via e-mail
at:drj_alcantara@yahoo.com. Read
his bio
