The profile of young people seeking chiropractic care: a secondary analysis of data

Chiropractic care for children has increased significantly in recent years and is now a commonly utilised healthcare option. Despite this, chiropractic's role in paediatric healthcare remains contentious. We performed a secondary analysis of two cross-sectional studies of chiropractic practice in Australia and Canada to describe the characteristics of paediatric patients presenting to chiropractors and to examine the reasons for seeking care, diagnosed conditions, and treatments provided across three age strata.

The Chiropractic Observation and Analysis Study (COAST) and the Ontario Chiropractic Observation and Analysis Study (O-COAST) are cross sectional observational studies conducted in Victoria, Australia (2010-2012) and Ontario, Canada (2014-2015), designed to provide a better understanding of chiropractic practice and trends. Patient encounters of individuals under 18 years of age were identified and extracted from respective datasets. Paediatric patients were categorised into three age strata based on neurodevelopmental and musculoskeletal maturation stages: 0-23 months, 2-9 years and 10-17 years. Descriptive data regarding patient characteristics, reason for encounter, and treatment received from the chiropractor were tabulated for analysis.

Of all 670 paediatric encounters, 20% were for 0-23 months, 33% were for 2-9 years and 47% for 10-17 years. "Health maintenance" was the most common reason for encounter in each age stratum. Non-musculoskeletal problems were most common in the 0-23 months stratum. Chiropractors most frequently diagnosed "back problems" in each age stratum. Manual adjustment was the most common treatment delivered overall.

We described the reasons paediatric patients seek chiropractic care, the conditions diagnosed by chiropractors, and the techniques used across three age groups. An incongruence was identified between patients' reasons for seeking care and chiropractors' diagnoses. Understanding the characteristics of paediatric patient groups and the patterns of presentation and treatment will aid in designing relevant research, to inform clinical practice and teaching programs, and implement evidence-based health policies.