A description of children and adolescents in Danish chiropractic practice: results from a nationwide survey.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to describe Danish chiropractic patients younger than 18 years.

METHODS

Questionnaires were mailed to all chiropractic clinics in Denmark during a randomly assigned month between September 2007 and September 2008. All patients younger than 18 years or their parents were asked to complete a questionnaire collecting information on age, presenting complaint, duration and consequences of this complaint, referral mode, and use of pain medication.

RESULTS

Babies were the most common pediatric patients with about one third being between 0 and 4 months of age. Infantile colic was the most common presenting complaint in this age group. For the older children, musculoskeletal problems were the most dominant complaint, ranging from 33% among the preschool children to 75% among the teenagers. These complaints were often chronic and about a third of the children older than 2 years had experienced symptoms for more than 1 year before seeing the chiropractor. These health complaints were reported to restrict activity as well as alter mood, and 39% of the 2- to 17-year olds used analgesics. There was limited referral of patients from other health care professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

Babies made up most of the Danish chiropractic patients younger than 18 years. Among the older children and the adolescents, musculoskeletal complaints were most common and mostly of a chronic nature. The large number of pediatric patients in chiropractic practices and the paucity of evidence of treatment effectiveness indicate the need for further research in these age groups.