• Harrell D
• Hawk C
• Malone BK
• Vallone S
• Young J
• Lavigne V

• Breast Feeding
• Infant Care
• Musculoskeletal Manipulations
• Open Access Document

Objective: to assess one-week outcomes of manual therapy by chiropractors for infants with musculoskeletal dysfunction and suboptimal infant breastfeeding (SIB), using the MIBAQ (Musculoskeletal Infant Breastfeeding Questionnaire). Methods: This was a descriptive cohort study. Volunteer chiropractors who frequently treat infants with musculoskeletal dysfunctions enrolled eligible infants within a two-month study period. Mothers of infants ≤ 3 months currently or recently breastfeeding presenting for care in the participating office were eligible. Mothers who declined to participate were excluded. The primary outcome was MIBAQ change from pre-treatment to one week later. A secondary measure was the Patient’s Global Impression of Change. Results: A total of 72 participants from six chiropractic offices completed the pre-survey; 35 (49%) completed both pre- and post-survey. The MIBAQ scores improved highly significantly (p < .000) from pre- to post-treatment and were significantly correlated with the PGIC (Pearson correlation=.408; p=.021). Conclusions: These results demonstrate that the MIBAQ appears to be clinically responsive to changes in SIB-related symptoms and could facilitate larger practice-based research studies of infants with musculoskeletal dysfunction contributing to SIB. In this study, significant clinical change was reported by mothers of infants with SIB after one week of chiropractic manual therapy.

Author keywords: suboptimal breastfeeding, outcome assessment tool, chiropractic.

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