A Retrospective Study of Chiropractic Treatment of 276 Danish Infants With Infantile Colic

Abstract 

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate if the outcome of excessively crying infants treated with chiropractic manipulation (1) was associated with age and/or (2), at least partially, can be explained by age according to the natural decline in crying.

Methods

This was a retrospective evaluation of clinical records of 749 infants from a private Danish chiropractic practice. All of the infants were healthy, thriving infants born to term within the age of 0 to 3 months who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for excessively crying infants (infantile colic), whose parents sought chiropractic treatment. The infants were treated using chiropractic management as decided by the treating doctor of chiropractic, and changes in crying based upon the parents' report were noted as improved, uncertain, or nonrecovered. Age predictor groups were cross-tabulated against the outcome variables, and difference between classification groups was tested with χ² tables and confidence intervals.

Results

Slightly older age was found to be linked to excessively crying infants who experienced clinical improvement. However, no apparent link between the clinical effect of chiropractic treatment and a natural decline in crying was found for this group of infants.

Conclusion

The findings of this study do not support the assumption that effect of chiropractic treatment of infantile colic is a reflection of the normal cessation of this disorder.

Key Indexing Terms: Chiropractic, Infant, Crying, Treatment Outcome, Colic, Retrospective Studies