{"doi":"10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01175.x","title":"Chiropractic spinal manipulation: what does the ‘best’ evidence show?","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>The evidence of effectiveness of chiropractic is controversial.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives</jats:title><jats:p>To summarise all <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews of chiropractic spinal manipulation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>The <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane database was searched for all <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews of chiropractic manipulation. <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews with the terms ‘chiropractic’, ‘manipulation’ or ‘manual therapy’ in the title, abstract or keywords were considered. Protocols of reviews were excluded, as were studies that did not focus specifically on chiropractic spinal manipulation. Data extraction was performed by the author according to predefined criteria.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Five <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews were eligible for inclusion. Due to clinical and statistical heterogeneity, a meta‐analysis was not possible and the findings of the reviews were discussed narratively. The five reviews related to the following conditions: low back pain, asthma, dysmenorrhoea and neck pain. Each review included between three and 39 primary studies. Cautiously positive conclusions emerged for low back pain and neck pain. For the two non‐spinal conditions, the conclusions were negative.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p><jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews, generally considered to be the most reliable evidence, provide limited evidence that chiropractic may be effective for low back and neck pain, but failed to support the use of chiropractic for non‐spinal conditions.</jats:p></jats:sec>","journal":"Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies","year":2012,"id":640454,"datarank":0.10397207708399181,"base_score":0.6931471805599453,"endowment":0.6931471805599453,"self_citation_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.10397207708399181,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1236575,"name":"Edzard Ernst","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Chiropractic spinal manipulation: what does the ‘best’ evidence show?","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>The evidence of effectiveness of chiropractic is controversial.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives</jats:title><jats:p>To summarise all <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews of chiropractic spinal manipulation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>The <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane database was searched for all <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews of chiropractic manipulation. <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews with the terms ‘chiropractic’, ‘manipulation’ or ‘manual therapy’ in the title, abstract or keywords were considered. Protocols of reviews were excluded, as were studies that did not focus specifically on chiropractic spinal manipulation. Data extraction was performed by the author according to predefined criteria.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Five <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews were eligible for inclusion. Due to clinical and statistical heterogeneity, a meta‐analysis was not possible and the findings of the reviews were discussed narratively. The five reviews related to the following conditions: low back pain, asthma, dysmenorrhoea and neck pain. Each review included between three and 39 primary studies. Cautiously positive conclusions emerged for low back pain and neck pain. For the two non‐spinal conditions, the conclusions were negative.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p><jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">C</jats:styled-content>ochrane reviews, generally considered to be the most reliable evidence, provide limited evidence that chiropractic may be effective for low back and neck pain, but failed to support the use of chiropractic for non‐spinal conditions.</jats:p></jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.6931471805599453,"endowment":0.6931471805599453,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"19910364","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W1981541274","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":0.0,"citation_percentile":0.06647226,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2016,"count":1}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.2042-7166.2012.01175.x","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01175.x","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01175.x","host_type":"journal"}],"fields_of_study":["Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation","Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology","Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Chiropractic","Spinal manipulation","Medicine","Neck pain","Manual therapy","Physical therapy","Low back pain","Data extraction","Back pain","Systematic review","Alternative medicine","Meta-analysis","Physical medicine and rehabilitation","MEDLINE","Pathology"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-07T11:58:43.572620Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}