MEDIARELEASE

Date:MondayAugust11,2014

CAArespondingtoAHA/ASAscientificstatement
TheChiropractorsAssociationofAustralia(CAA)isrespondingtothescientificstatementfromthe
AmericanHeartAssociationandtheAmericanStrokeAssociation(AHA/ASA)onCervicalArterial
DissectionsandAssociationwithCervicalManipulativeTherapy.
As background, Chiropractors in Australia are five year university trained and registered
healthcare professionals. As part of a standard of care, Chiropractors are required to explain the
risks and benefits of any care to their patients and to obtain their informed consent before
proceeding. This is a requirement of a registered health care professional. Chiropractors are
regulated under the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency and are one of 14
regulated health professions alongside GPs and physiotherapists.
Based on the scientific statement from The American Heart Association and the American
Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), CAA spokesperson and Head of the Public Education Committee
Dr Billy Chow (Chiropractor) says The peer reviewed literature states there is no evidence of
excess risk of VBA stroke associated with chiropractic care compared to primary care, this
means the epidemiological link that is present is the same when comparing going to a GP or a
Chiropractor. (1)
The Biller et. al. 2014 study as sourced in the statement, acknowledged a possible bias towards
chiropractic with their referenced studies as there were no significant comparisons with other
healthcare providers. In the Cassidy et al. study that Biller et al. referenced; They found an
association between chiropractic visits and VA strokes. However, the risk was similar to the risk
of VA stroke after seeing a primary care physician.
The World Health Organizations guidelines on Chiropractic care describe it as safe and effective
(2). Chiropractors provide in excess of nine million occasions of service (3) to the Australian
population each year and have a high expressed satisfaction rate with patients. Importantly, the
documented error rate either as a percentage of services or as a percentage of practitioners is
extremely low (4).
Chiropractors make a significant contribution to the health and well-being of the Australian
population. There are risks in any health care treatment option and as previously stated
chiropractors are required to explain risks to patients and obtain consent before any treatment
takes place.
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Ends

More Information:
For further media enquiries please contact the Chiropractors Association of Australia (National)
The Peak Body Representing Chiropractors
www.chiropractors.asn.au

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Media Contact:
Media Advisor Kimberly Lennard
0429 999 160
02 4731 8011
Email: media@caa.asn.au
References:
To see the full Scientific Statement from The American Heart Association and the American Stroke
Association http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2014/08/07/STR.0000000000000016.full.pdf+html
(1) Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care : Results of a Population-Based Case-Control
and Case-Crossover Study, J. David Cassidy, DC, PhD, DrMedSc, Eleanor Boyle, PhDa, Pierre Ct, DC,
PhD, Yaohua He, MD, PhD, Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, PhD, Frank L. Silver, MD, FRCPCe, f, Susan J. Bondy,
PhD)

(2) http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/traditional/Chiro-Guidelines.pdf
(3) IBIS World Industry Report Q8534 August 2013
(4) AHPRA and National Boards Annual Report 2012/2013

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