• Haas AL

• Adult
• Anxiety Disorders / therapy
• Female
• Sleep Wake Disorders / therapy
• Subluxation

Objective: To monitor and quantify improvements in sleep quality, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) survey, and anxiety, using the HAM-A questionnaire, in a patient receiving chiropractic care for correction of vertebral subluxations.

Clinical Features: A 28-year-old female patient presenting for care with complaints of musculoskeletal symptoms, sleep disturbance and anxiety disorder. Patient was assessed pre- and post-care for (1) neuro-structural adaptive abnormalities by surface EMG analysis and weightbearing radiographic analysis, (2) autonomic adaptive abnormalities by paraspinal thermography analysis, and (3) by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A) questionnaires, for changes in sleep disability and anxiety manifestations, respectively.

Interventions and Outcomes: Chiropractic care was delivered via (1) a continuous measures approach to identify and localize vertebral subluxations, and (2) Diversified and Thompson drop-style adjustments for reduction or correction of vertebral subluxations. Visit schedules were twice weekly for a duration of three continuous months. The patient reported subjective improvements in both musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal complaints, and her vertebral subluxations were corrected or reduced in severity as measured by reduction or amelioration of vertebral subluxation indicators. The patient also demonstrated marked reduction of sleep disorder as measured by Global PSQI score (from an initial score of 16 to an improved score of 3) and marked reduction of anxiety disorder (from an initial score of 28 to an improved score of 10) after three months of consistent chiropractic care.

Conclusion: The present case report describes coordinated quantitative improvement in vertebral subluxations as measured by a continuous measures approach, sleep quality as measured by PSQI, and anxiety disorder as measured by HAM-A. The temporal correlation of these health improvements suggests the likelihood of a causal relationship between the intervention (correction of vertebral subluxation) and the observed outcomes (reduction of sleep and anxiety disorder).

Author keywords: Chiropractic, sleep quality, anxiety disorder, vertebral subluxation, chiropractic adjustments, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A)

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