A new study is a first step in assessing and improving chiropractic care strategies for U.S. military veterans.

In 2004, the Office of Veteran’s Affairs added chiropractic care as an option for veterans. Since then, the number of veterans taking advantage of this service through VA care facilities has increased exponentially.

The use of chiropractic care in veterans has decreased their use of opioids to treat chronic pain. Chronic pain often sets in after active service, in addition to mental health challenges. Low back pain especially is prevalent, affecting 25 percent of all veterans.

Based on these facts, Stacie Salsbury et. al put together a qualitative pilot study to try to determine both how veterans view chiropractic care and also to make recommendations on how to proceed with designing trials that will help determine treatment parameters to best help veterans manage their pain.

“This qualitative study highlighted veteran stakeholders’ perceptions of VA-based chiropractic services and offered important suggestions for conducting a full-scale, veteran-focused, randomized trial of multimodal chiropractic care for chronic LBP in this clinical setting.”