J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1986 Dec; 9(4): 243-7.

Efficacy of various chiropractic treatments, age distribution and incidence of accident- and nonaccident-caused low back pain in male and female patients.

Sheladia VL, Johnston DA.

From a total pool of 1189 male and female patients with accident- (AC) and nonaccident- (NA) caused low back pain, 465 cases with completed therapy were studied for effectiveness of various chiropractic treatments. For those who completed therapy, the age distribution and incidence of this disorder were also studied. At the completion of the therapy, the response was evaluated as very good (pain-free, cured), better (very small degree of discomfort), relief (some reduction in pain) or no response to the treatment. The females with NA responded better than AC cases (p less than .001). However, male NA cases showed an increase in "no relief," but it was not significant (p = 0.052). The response of male AC cases was better than that of female AC cases (p less than 0.001). The cervical, thoracic, lumbar and ilium adjustment levels in female and male NA did not show any differences in response (p = 0.15, female; p = 0.46, male). The incidence of NA back pain disorders in both male and female was higher as compared to AC-caused back problems (p less than 0.001). The lower back pain problems did not show any age-specific association in either sex. Manipulative approaches in addition to nonmanipulative methods are superior to nonmanipulative measures alone, and females responded better to nonmanipulative care than did males.