Cult Med Psychiatry. 1994 Mar; 18(1): 83-113.

Communication in a chiropractic clinic: how a D.C. treats his patients.

Oths K.

Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 35487.

This study of a chiropractor and his patients represents the first interaction analysis of an alternative practitioner. Relationships between the types and quantities of communications in clinical exchanges and patient satisfaction with treatment are examined using both quantitative and qualitative analysis of verbal dialogue and clinical observations. Findings suggest that patient satisfaction is enhanced by a practitioner-patient relationship characterized by initial transmission of large amounts of comprehensible information successively supplanted by personal affective dialogue. New patients are usually unfamiliar with the chiropractic belief system and may have special communication needs due to the psychoemotional component to their, often chronic, problems. The chiropractor provides the patient with a structured, supportive environment and theoretical explanations designed to take the mystery out of process and problems. In essence, the chiropractor first manipulates a patient's belief structure before manipulating his or her physical structure, providing an analogous structural realignment in both the mind and body. Contrasts between biomedical and chiropractic clinical encounters are noted.