Choosing Chiropractic Care for Chronic Pain

The Choosing Chiropractic Care for Chronic Pain project was conducted under the Center of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Integrative Health (CERC) and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

About the Project

The Choosing Chiropractic for Chronic Pain was the data collection arm for CERC. Data collection for this study concluded in 2017, and many of the CERC publications were the result of analyzing these data. We recruited 125 chiropractic clinics from six U.S. metropolitan areas for our study. Because of the vigorous participation and dedication of the participating clinics, we were able to collect survey data from over 2,000 chiropractic patients with chronic low back and/or neck pain. The data included three-month longitudinal surveys as well as chiropractic chart data for the majority of respondents.

Study findings based on these data were published in peer-reviewed journals (see our publications page), presented to our expert appropriateness panels on manipulation and mobilization for chronic low back pain and chronic neck pain, and shared at numerous academic conferences, including the International Congress for Integrative Medicine and Health, the American Public Health Association, and multiple chiropractic professional conferences.