| Objectives: 1) To establish whether dyspepsia is commonly encountered in chiropractic clinics, 2) to establish the methods currently used in its management by chiropractors, and 3) to determine the estimated effectiveness of such management according to chiropractors. Design: Electronic questionnaire. Setting: Electronic mail. Subjects: Members of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia (CAA) who have provided an electronic mail address. Intervention: None. Questions Asked: Respondents were asked to estimate the frequency of encountering patients in their clinics who experience dyspepsia, what their methods of management involve, and whether they consider this management effective. Results: Sixty-six usable responses were received, and 81% of chiropractors estimated seeing patients with dyspepsia at least once a month; 43% estimated seeing such patients more than 5 times a month. Thoracic adjustments were reportedly the most common method of intervention used, gaining a 91% response rate. The most common vertebral segments adjusted were T5-T8, followed by C1 and T4. Nutritional advice, cervical adjustments and visceral manipulation were the next most common methods of management reported, in descending order. Ninety-five percent of respondents rated their management to be either moderately or very effective. Conclusions: Dyspepsia is reportedly a common symptom encountered in chiropractic clinics. Thoracic adjustments (mostly T5-T8), nutritional advice and cervical adjustments (mostly C1) were the 3 most common methods of management used. The high prevalence of dyspepsia estimated and the high perceived effectiveness of its management found in this study warrants further investigation in the form of randomised, controlled clinical trials of the methods of management used. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text (print only) by subscription.
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