Physical Therapy, Chiropractic Manipulation, or an Educational Booklet for Back Pain

To the Editor: The American Chiropractic Association is disturbed by the conclusions being drawn about the effectiveness of chiropractic care for the treatment of patients with low back pain on the basis of the study by Cherkin et al. (Oct. 8 issue). 1 The generalizability of the study is severely limited by the exclusion of many types of patients who benefit from chiropractic spinal manipulation, including those who are pregnant and those involved in workers' compensation claims. Studies show that patients treated by chiropractors return to work twice as rapidly as those treated by physicians and at half the cost. 2 – . . .