Prevalence and Delivery of Pain Education Interventions in the Chiropractic Setting: a Scoping Review

The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the literature on patient education and delivery methods utilized by chiropractors.

For this scoping review, we searched peer-reviewed and gray literature including all study designs except for commentaries and protocols, which pertained to patient education within the chiropractic setting. Studies that included pediatrics were excluded. A literature search was performed through PubMed, Index to Chiropractic Literature, CINAHL, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from journal inception to March 4, 2025. After extraction, findings were qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis.

Of 2338 articles identified, 68 studies were eligible for thematic analysis. There was heterogeneity in the content and delivery methods of patient education. More lifestyle education reported than pain education. Predominately, education was delivered by direct instruction in a multimodal treatment approach.

Our literature findings suggest that chiropractors are utilizing pain education in addition to other patient education topics, such as lifestyle education, ergonomics/biomechanics, diagnosis/prognosis, and self-management strategies. Patient education is performed as part of a multimodal treatment approach within the chiropractic setting, primarily through direct instruction.