Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde

• MPH, PhD
• Professor Emerita at 1. University of Southern Denmark.

In a previous paper, we presented some important weaknesses of and threats to the chiropractic profession as we see them. We further argued that the chiropractic profession’s relationship with its principal clinical tool (spinal manual therapy) is at the core of the ideological divide that fractures the profession and prevents professional developm...

Spinal manual therapy is central to chiropractic history, clinical practice, and professional identity. That chiropractors have developed an expertise in this domain has provided some considerable advantages. However, we contend it is also at the crux of the ideological schism that fractures the chiropractic profession. In this article, which is th...

Systematic reviews (SRs) provide a solution to handle information overload for busy clinicians by summarising and synthesizing studies on a specific issue. However, because SRs are complicated and often boring to read, the busy or reluctant reader may make do with the abstract. When, as it has been shown, many authors overstate efficacy or understa...

Background: An association between punctate palmoplantar keratoderma type 1 (PPPK1) and malignancy has been proposed for decades. Some authors suggest that individuals with PPPK1 should undergo screening for various types of malignancies while others caution that an association is not well-established. In this systematic review, we summarized and...

Introduction Some chiropractors seem to have an inflated belief in the powers of spinal manipulation (SMT), for example aiming at preventing future spinal degeneration and health problems, activities that are without supporting evidence. Non-evidenced health beliefs have been shown to be associated with a tendency toward magical thinking. Holding s...

Preliminary evidence points to a link between C-reactive protein (CRP) and spinal pain in adults. However, there is a paucity of research in younger populations. Therefore, we aimed to determine associations between CRP and spinal pain in childhood and adolescence. We identified trajectories of spinal pain from childhood to adolescence and investig...

Background Spinal pain has been previously linked with cardiovascular disease risk factors in children. This study investigated the prospective associations between cardiovascular disease risk factors and non-traumatic spinal pain occurrences in children, and examined the moderating role of sex and health-related physical activity in these relation...

This study aimed to investigate the trajectories of spinal pain frequency from 6 to 17 years of age and describe the prevalence and frequency of spinal pain and related diagnoses in children following different pain trajectories. First through fifth-grade students from 13 primary schools were followed for 5.5 years. Occurrences of spinal pain were...

The concept that spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) outcomes are optimized when the treatment is aimed at a clinically relevant joint is commonly assumed and central to teaching and clinical use (candidate sites). This systematic review investigated whether clinical effects are superior when this is the case compared to SMT applied elsewhere (non-ca...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Background Shoulder pain was previously shown to diminish in older populations and it was suggested that this could be explained by reduced usage with age. Our objectives were to investigate if estimates of shoulder pain continue to increase after the age of 50 in working populations and to compare these estimates in physically demanding occupation...

Background: This study aimed to validate a questionnaire to address an absence of a measure to evaluate Australian chiropractic students' perceptions of the quality of chiropractic programs. Method: Potential relevant questionnaire items were selected from the Australian chiropractic accreditation standards. Chiropractic students rated these ite...

Background A small proportion of chiropractors, osteopaths, and other manual medicine providers use spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) to manage non-musculoskeletal disorders. However, the efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions to prevent or treat non-musculoskeletal disorders remain controversial. Objectives We convened a Global Summit...

Background: The chiropractic profession is split between those practicing evidence-based and those whose practice is honed by vitalism. The latter has been coined ‘chiropractic conservatism’. In Denmark, the chiropractic education program is university-based in close collaboration with a medical faculty. We wanted to investigate if such conservativ...

Background: Most cases of low back pain (LBP) are regarded as non-specific and current studies indicate that for many this is a chronic recurrent condition, in which people experience episodes of pain with symptom-free periods in between. It is likely that acute exposure to some factors triggers the reappearance of new episodes in recurrent LBP re...

Background: The autonomic nervous system interacts with the pain system. Knowledge on the effects of high velocity low amplitude spinal manipulations (SM) on autonomic activity and experimentally induced pain is limited. In particular, the effects of SM on autonomic activity and pain beyond the immediate post intervention period as well as the rel...

Background: Functional Neurology (FN), founded by FR Carrick, is an approach used by some chiropractors to treat a multitude of conditions via the nervous system including the brain. However, it seems to lack easily obtainable scientific evidence for its clinical validity. Objectives: 1) To define the topics of FR Carrick's publications, 2) to d...

After publication of our article [1] the authors have notified us that their names have been incorrectly tagged.

Background: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) posted reports claiming that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. These claims clash with recommendations from the World Health Organization and World Federation of Chiropractic. We discuss the scientific validity of the claims made i...

Background: Chiropractic technique systems ('prescriptive' techniques) might be interpreted as helpful guidelines. However, 'prescriptive' techniques, such as Functional Neurology (FN), Sacro-Occipital Technique, and Applied Kinesiology are more concerned with the 'technical' diagnosis than the condition and its symptoms and, thus, seem to provide...

Background: People with chronic low back pain (LBP) typically have increased pain sensitivity compared to healthy controls, however its unknown if pain sensitivity differs based on LBP trajectory at baseline or after manual therapy interventions. We aimed to compare baseline pressure pain threshold (PPT) and temporal summation (TS) between people...

Background: Chiropractors see themselves as well positioned to provide safe, effective and economical care for the on-going financial burden that spinal pain imposes. However, in many places of the world, the chiropractic profession continues to find itself struggling to gain acceptance as a mainstream allied health care provider. There is evidenc...

Background The clinical follow-up of patients for degeneration of the supraspinatus tendon is limited by the lack of objective assessment of pain evolution over time. We therefore tested a new method to collect follow-up data on patients treated either by surgical cuff repair or rehabilitation. Objectives We report the feasibility this method in t...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Background In March 2020, the World Health Organization elevated the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic to a pandemic and called for urgent and aggressive action worldwide. Public health experts have communicated clear and emphatic strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Hygiene rules and social distancing practices have been implemented...

Background and Hypotheses: The contemporary research literature indicates that there is no significant clinical difference in terms of improvement of pain and functional disability between surgical repair and rehabilitation treatment for degenerative rotator cuff tears. It could be hypothesized that rehabilitation, which is cheaper and causes few c...

Background A recent study showed that chiropractic patients had fewer days with bothersome (activity-limiting) low back pain (LBP) when receiving care at regular pre-planned intervals regardless of symptoms (‘maintenance care’, MC) compared to receiving treatment only with a new episode of LBP. Benefit varied across psychological subgroups. The aim...

Background The chiropractic profession is split between those practicing evidence-informed and those whose practice is honed by vitalism. The latter has been coined ‘chiropractic conservatism’. Concerningly, this behavior is also present in students, as a recent survey conducted on students from a European private chiropractic college showed that c...

Background We investigated whether a university-based educational system would overrule the strong link (odds ratios >20) between chiropractic conservatism and the inability to recognize non-indications to chiropractic treatment that had been shown to exist in a previous study of a private chiropractic college. We i) sought to define the clinical d...

Background and objective: Clinical guidelines recommend physical activity to manage neck pain (NP) and low back pain (LBP). However, studies used to support these guidelines are based on self-reports of physical behaviour which are prone to bias and misclassification. This systematic review aimed to investigate associations between objectively mea...

Background: Spinal manipulation (SM) has been shown to have an effect on the pressure pain threshold (PPT) in asymptomatic subjects, but SM has never been compared in studies on this topic to a validated sham procedure. We investigated the effect of SM on the PPT when measured i) in the area of intervention and ii) in an area remote from the inter...

Background People with LBP who experience rapid improvement in symptoms after spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) are more likely to experience better longer-term outcomes compared to those who don't improve rapidly. It is unknown if short-term hypoalgesia after SMT could be a relevant finding in rapid responders. Objectives We aimed to explore whet...

Background While there is a broad spectrum of practice within chiropractic two sub-types can be identified, those who focus on musculoskeletal problems and those who treat also non-musculoskeletal problems. The latter group may adhere to the old conservative ‘subluxation’ model. The main goal of this study is to determine if chiropractic students w...

Background Recent studies have shown that psychological factors, attitudes and beliefs impact on the quality of chiropractic student clinical decisions. This association has not been studied among qualified chiropractors. Our objective was to investigate if personality, psychological factors and/or unorthodox beliefs among chiropractors are related...

Background: This is the second article reporting on a study that sought the views of people with extensive experience in Councils on Chiropractic Education (CCEs) on research that has raised concerns about variability in accreditation standards and processes for chiropractic programs (CPs) and chiropractic practice in general. Methods: This qual...

Background: The aim of this study was to report on key informant opinions of Councils on Chiropractic Education (CCE) regarding recent research findings reporting on improving accreditation standards and processes for chiropractic programs (CPs). Methods: This qualitative study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews with key experienced pe...

Background: Accreditation of educational programs involves an independent agency assessing quality against a set of defined standards. Site inspection teams are appointed by an accrediting agency and compile a report with the intention of identifying deficiencies and making recommendations for their rectification and continued improvement. For chi...

Background: Back pain is a global problem in terms of disability and financially, with a large burden both to the individual and to society. Back pain was previously believed to be uncommon in children. However, there is a growing body of evidence that this is not the case. Objective: Part I of this scoping review studied risk factors of inciden...

Background: The one-month prevalence of back pain in children and adolescents has been reported at 33, 28 and 48% at ages 9, 13 and 15 respectively. There are many suspected risk factors and triggers of back pain in young people. Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify potential risk factors and potential triggers for back...

Background: Maintenance Care is a traditional chiropractic approach, whereby patients continue treatment after optimum benefit is reached. A review conducted in 1996 concluded that evidence behind this therapeutic strategy was lacking, and a second review from 2008 reached the same conclusion. Since then, a systematic research program in the Nordi...

Background Chiropractic maintenance care is effective as secondary/tertiary prevention of non-specific low back pain (LBP), but the potential effect moderation by psychological characteristics is unknown. The objective was to investigate whether patients in specific psychological sub-groups had different responses to MC with regard to the total num...

Background: A recent hypothesis purports that spinal manipulation may cause changes at a brain level. Functional Neurology, a mainly chiropractic approach, promotes the use of spinal manipulation to improve 'brain function' as if it were a proven construct. No systematic review has been performed to investigate how well founded this hypothesis is....

Purpose To examine the prospective associations of pubertal development and linear growth with spinal pain frequency and duration in children. Methods We recruited students from 10 public primary schools. Over 42 months, pubertal development was assessed four times and categorized according to Tanner stages 1–5, and height was measured on seven oc...

Aim: This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of measuring pinprick temporal summation (TS) with the Neuropen, a cheap and accessible device. Methods: Ten asymptomatic participants underwent TS testing using the Neuropen and answered a tolerability questionnaire. Results were compared against reference values, averaging three and five TS te...

Background: Risk factors (RFs) for the "disease" of low back pain (LBP) are probably different from the triggers of new episodes of LBP. Investigating RFs for the onset of the "disease" and the triggers of LBP is problematic if researchers fail to discern the different types of pain-free status of participants at and before baseline. There is a di...

Background: Changes in quantitative sensory tests have been observed after spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), particularly in pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and temporal summation (TS). However, a recent systematic review comparing SMT to sham found no significant difference in PPT in patients with musculoskeletal pain. The sham-controlled studies...

Background: Spinal manipulation (SM) has been shown in a systematic review to have a statistically significant effect on the pressure pain threshold (PPT) in asymptomatic subjects, when SM is compared to a sham intervention. The magnitude and duration of this effect is unclear. Objectives: To determine the effect-size of SM in asymptomatic subje...

Background The autonomic nervous system (ANS) interests many chiropractors and manual therapists, because joint manipulative techniques (JMT), e.g. high velocity low amplitude (HVLA) manipulations and mobilizations, appear to produce acute changes in ANS mediated physiology. The complexity of this issue justifies a systematic critical literature re...

Background The chiropractic profession has a long history of internal conflict. Today, the division is between the ‘evidence-friendly’ faction that focuses on musculoskeletal problems based on a contemporary and evidence-based paradigm, and the ‘traditional’ group that subscribes to concepts such as ‘subluxation’ and the spine as the centre of good...

Background Manipulation-induced hypoalgesia (MIH) represents reduced pain sensitivity following joint manipulation, and has been documented in various populations. It is unknown, however, whether MIH following high-velocity low-amplitude spinal manipulative therapy is a specific and clinically relevant treatment effect. Methods This systematic cri...

Background The quality of health care provider clinical decisions has long been recognized as variable. Research has focused on clinical decision making with the aim of improving patient outcomes. No studies have looked at chiropractic students´ abilities in this regard. Method In 2016, advanced students from two Australian chiropractic programs (...

Background Evidence suggests that a students’ beliefs already prior to entering a program may be important as a determinant in sustaining unsuitable health care beliefs. Our objectives were to investigate the proportion of Australian chiropractic students who hold non-evidence-based beliefs in the first year of study and the extent to which they ma...

Introduction The chiropractic vitalistic approach to the concept of ‘subluxation’ as a cause of disease lacks both biological plausibility and possibly proof of validity. Nonetheless, some chiropractors purport to prevent disease in general through the use of chiropractic care. Evidence of its effect is needed to be allowed to continue this practic...

Background Spinal manipulation (SM) has been shown to have an effect on pain perception. More knowledge is needed on this phenomenon and it would be relevant to study its effect in asymptomatic subjects. Objectives To compare regional effect of SM on pressure pain threshold (PPT) vs. sham, inactive control, mobilisation, another SM, and some type...

抽象 背景 主要由脊椎治疗师实施的功能性神经病学(FN)提议对各种临床病例(从衰弱疾病到无症状人群表现增强)产生效果或益处。. 目标和设计 对功能性神经病学,康复和人体工程学(FNRE)期刊中收录的出版物进行评论性审查,以调查是否有FN临床效果或益处的证据。该评价有五个研究目标,其中三个与通过该期刊提供的文献类型有关,另外两个涉及所纳入研究的设计和方法学方面。. 方法 搜索所有FNRE期刊(2017年10月),包括手工搜索其他相关出版物的清单。为了找到与FN的效果或益处相关的证据,该搜索仅限于与对照组进行的前瞻性临床研究研究,声称或似乎处理该主题。评审由两名独立评审员使用两份清单进行,一份与研究描述相关,另一份与质量相关。叙述性地报道了结果。. 结果 发现了9篇文章。 FNRE杂志包含168...

Background Chiropractic programs are accredited and monitored by regional Councils on Chiropractic Education (CCE). The CCE-International has historically been a federation of regional CCEs charged with harmonising world standards to produce quality chiropractic educational programs. The standards for accreditation periodically undergo revision. We...

Background For individuals with recurrent or persistent non-specific low back pain (LBP), exercise and exercise combined with education have been shown to be effective in preventing new episodes or in reducing the impact of the condition. Chiropractors have traditionally used Maintenance Care (MC), as secondary and tertiary prevention strategies. T...

Original trial protocol part of the ethical application. (PDF)

Descriptive patient data at the different stages of the inclusion process. LBP, Low Back Pain; A, Inclusion criteria; B, Exclusion criteria; MPI, West-Haven Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory; AC, Adaptive Coper; ID, Interpersonally Distressed; DYS, Dysfunctional; MC, Chiropractic Maintenance Care; RMDQ, Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire; EQ...

CONSORT 2010 checklist of information to include when reporting a randomized trial. (PDF)

English translation of the key methodological portions of the original trial protocol part of the ethical application. (PDF)

Heat map illustrating the density of number of requited subjects in the trial geographically across Sweden. Red zones represents the highest numbers of requited subjects followed by yellow, green and blue. (TIF)

Background Previous systematic reviews have reported positive associations between Modic changes (MCs) and low back pain (LBP), but due to their narrow scope and new primary studies, there is a need for a comprehensive systematic review. Our objectives were to investigate if MCs are associated with non-specific LBP and/or activity limitation and if...

Data extraction and risk of bias assessment. (XLSX)

Protocol registered at PROSPERO. (PDF)

Full search strategy. (DOCX)

Articles excluded in full text assessment. (DOCX)

Background Causative factors may be different for the very first onset of symptoms of the ‘disease’ of low back pain (LBP) than for ensuing episodes that occur after a pain-free period. This differentiation hinges on a life-time absence of low back pain at first onset and short-term absence for further episodes. In this systematic review, we explor...

Background Sports injuries are often described as overuse or traumatic. Little is known about the frequency of overuse injuries and, in particular, if they vary between different types of sporting activities. Purpose To identify any differences between sports in relation to diagnoses of overuse injuries of the extremities (OIE) and anatomical area...

Background Chiropractors are primarily concerned with musculoskeletal disorders but have the responsibility to deal also with prevention in other areas. Objectives To establish the prevalence of chiropractors who have a positive opinion on the use of primary prevention (PP), their actual use of PP, and the proportion of patients who consult for PP...

Background Functional Neurology (FN), a seemingly attractive treatment approach used by some chiropractors, proposes to have an effect on a multitude of conditions but some of its concepts are controversial. Objectives and design A scoping review was performed to describe, in the context of chiropractic manual therapy, 1) the FN theories, and 2) i...

Background Psychological factors, such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU), have been shown to impact on the quality of medical care. However, this psychological measure has not been studied in the chiropractic profession. Our objective was to investigate if higher levels of IU in chiropractic students were related to poor choices of management in s...