Chiropractic Research
Due to the lack of funding by government agencies, legitimate,
sustained scientific research in chiropractic has only recently
become fully established. In 1944, the National Chiropractic
Association (NCA) created the Chiropractic Research Foundation
(CRF) with the objective of promoting and acquiring funding
for the development of research for the chiropractic profession.
During the 1960s, chiropractic educators realized the importance
of upgrading educational standards to achieve nationally recognized
accreditation. The NCA became the American Chiropractic Association
(ACA) and the CRF became the Foundation for Accredited Chiropractic
Education. What was originally conceived as an organization
to support research became an organization to help chiropractic
colleges gain accreditation. While this was accomplished in
1974, when the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare
recognized the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), and
the Foundation for Accredited Chiropractic Education was reorganized
as the Foundation of Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER),
the emphasis was to remain for several years on education
rather than research.
Two important developments in the 1970s expanded the scope
of chiropractic research. First, the U.S. Department of Health
Education and Welfare sponsored a research conference on spinal
manipulation in 1975, which heightened awareness of the need
for research on spinal manipulation and other chiropractic-related
subject matter. This prompted the organization of the Chiropractic
Research Council (CRC) in an effort to bring together the
research directors of all the chiropractic colleges. The second
important development came in 1979, when the FCER hired a
director of research who expanded the research program and
established a competitive scientific review process for submitted
proposals. The Foundation also implemented an annual research
conference for paper presentations, research training, and
interprofessional communication. This meeting thrives to this
day as the International Conference on Spinal Manipulation,
which attracts researchers from different fields worldwide.
Today, research in chiropractic has grown by leaps and bounds
thanks to the assistance of a number of other organizations,
mostly within the chiropractic profession. The scope of chiropractic
research parallels that of medical research, with active research
involvement in such areas as basic science, health services,
education, and clinical research.
However, until very recently, Federal funding has been virtually
nonexistent. Even with millions of research dollars being
given to medical research each year, only a small number of
Federal grants have been awarded to projects involving chiropractic,
and in amounts that pale in comparison to medical grants.
In 1994-5, half of all grant funding to chiropractic researchers
was from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration
(7 grants totalling $2.3 million) and most of the remainder
was from the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research
(11 grants totalling $881,000) and the Consortium for Chiropractic
Research (4 grants totalling $519,000).
Currently there are 14 peer-reviewed chiropractic journals
in English which publish the results of chiropractic research,
including The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics, Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, and the Journal
of Chiropractic Humanities. Chiropractic research has
also been published in scientific journals, although chiropractic
researchers recognize that most of their work is read by the
chiropractic profession alone. With each passing day more
is done to reduce this scientific isolation and expand the
scope and appreciation of chiropractic and chiropractic research
to the scientific community and the general public.
For more information please visit:
Manga
II (courtesy of the Ontario Chiropractic Association)
Foundation for Chiropractic
Education and Research (FCER)
Chiropractic
Journal of Australia
JMPT
(Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics)
Journal of the Canadian
Chiropractic Association
Chiropractic
Research
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