ArticleChiropractic & manual therapies2020
A united statement of the global chiropractic research community against the pseudoscientific claim that chiropractic care boosts immunity.
Article in Chiropractic & manual therapies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of Studies Evaluating Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Infectious Disease and Immune System Outcomes: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2021Pooled it
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: musings, observations and reflections after a half-century in chiropractic education.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2026Article
- Mechano responsiveness of neuroimmune cross-talk in bone and joints: A narrative review with implications for force-based manipulations.Musculoskeletal science & practice · 2026Review
- "The Dark Side of Musculoskeletal Care": Why Do Ineffective Techniques Seem to Work? A Comprehensive Review of Complementary and Alternative Therapies.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- The mechanisms of manual therapy: A living review of systematic, narrative, and scoping reviews.PloS one · 2025Article
- A new role for spinal manual therapy and for chiropractic? Part I: weaknesses and threats.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2024Article
- Review
- A two-year follow-up: Twitter activity regarding misinformation about spinal manipulation, chiropractic care and boosting immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2023Article
- A comparative audit of jurisprudence, ethics and business management (JEB) courses taught at 21 accredited chiropractic programs worldwide.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2022Article
- The impact and public health response of chiropractors to the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey across four continents.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2022Article
- Cross-Sectional Survey of Opinions, Professional Changes, and Personal Hardships of COVID-19 on Chiropractors in the United States.Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics · 2022Article
- The chiropractor's role in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of suicide: a clinical guide.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2021Article
- When boundaries blur - exploring healthcare providers' views of chiropractic interprofessional care and the Canadian Forces Health Services.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2021Article
- Opposing vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic - A critical commentary and united statement of an international osteopathic research community.International journal of osteopathic medicine : IJOM · 2021Article
- Misinformation, chiropractic, and the COVID-19 pandemic.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Article
- Informed consent, duty of disclosure and chiropractic: where are we?Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Review
- More published full-time researchers, early career researchers, clinician-researchers and graduate students unite to call for actions against the pseudoscientific claim that chiropractic care boosts immunity.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Article
- Guidance concerning chiropractic practice in response to COVID-19 in the U.S.: a summary of state regulators' web-based information.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Article
- The importance of rigour in the reporting of evidence for osteopathic care in Covid-19 papers.Explore (New York, N.Y.)Article
- Radiophobia Overreaction: College of Chiropractors of British Columbia Revoke Full X-Ray Rights Based on Flawed Study and Radiation Fear-Mongering.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis SocietyArticle
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) posted reports claiming that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. These claims clash with recommendations from the World Health Organization and World Federation of Chiropractic. We discuss the scientific validity of the claims made in these ICA reports. MAIN BODY: We reviewed the two reports posted by the ICA on their website on March 20 and March 28, 2020. We explored the method used to develop the claim that chiropractic adjustments impact the immune system and discuss the scientific merit of that claim. We provide a response to the ICA reports and explain why this claim lacks scientific credibility and is dangerous to the public. More than 150 researchers from 11 countries reviewed and endorsed our response.
conclusionIn their reports, the ICA provided no valid clinical scientific evidence that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. We call on regulatory authorities and professional leaders to take robust political and regulatory action against those claiming that chiropractic adjustments have a clinical impact on the immune system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.