07/22/2025
Seniors Under Chiropractic Care Have Less Chance of Falling
A retrospective cohort study was published on October 24, 2024, on the open science site Cureus that showed that seniors who are under chiropractic care have less incidence of falls when compared to those not under chiropractic. Falling is a serious and common problem for seniors. According to the National Institute of Aging, "More than one in four people age 65 years or older fall each year. The risk of falling — and fall-related problems — rises with age."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, "Falls among adults 65 and older caused over 38,000 deaths in 2021, making it the leading cause of injury death for that group. In 2021, emergency departments recorded nearly 3 million visits for older adult falls."
The authors of this study begin by noting that "Falls are a major concern for the growing global aging population. They can lead to adverse outcomes, including fractures and hospitalizations [2], and are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among adults age 65 and older in the United States…" They also state that "Chiropractors are clinicians who commonly use spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) to manage spinal pain disorders affecting older individuals." For the purposes of this study, the term SMT was used instead of what is more commonly known as a chiropractic adjustment.
In this study, researchers review records from 116 million patients over a ten-year period to identify patients 65 or older who were suffering with spinal pain. They then narrowed the number of reviewed cases by removing patients with conditions that may make them susceptible to falling. Next, they separated the remaining reviews into two groups of those who got SMT and those who did not. They reduced the non-SMT group down to those that most closely matched the patients who got SMT. The end results of this process resulted in 1,666 patients in the group that got SMT and another 1,666 closely matched patients that did not get any chiropractic care.
After reviewing these two groups of patients, the researchers found that the group of 1,666 patients who received SMT had a considerably lower rate of falls. Those who did not receive SMT had a 42% higher probability of falling. The rate of falls for both of these groups was less than in the general population due to the study excluding those who have conditions that make falls more likely.
In discussion why the SMT group had a lower fall rate, the authors commented, "SMT has been shown to reduce pain in individuals with spinal disorders, and pain is known to increase fall risk in older adults." They also noted that SMT has been shown to improve motor function and sensory abilities in older adults which can enhance stability and coordination, thus helping to prevent falls.
In their discussion, the authors describe the importance of these findings. "Our findings hold potential clinical significance when considering the high morbidity and cost associated with falls in older individuals. Falls can contribute to pain and accelerate disability progression in this population."
The authors concluded, "Our findings, representing the largest study to date on SMT and falls, suggest a potential reduction in fall risk after SMT in older adults with spinal pain over 13 months of follow-up compared to matched controls."
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We wish to give every patient who enters our office the opportunity to achieve his or her maximum healing potential through natural chiropractic methods. The cornerstone of the chiropractic approach is the correction of spinal misalignments (vertebral subluxations) that interfere with the body’s n...
