Cynthia R Long

• PhD
• Head of Faculty at Palmer College of Chiropractic

Background Neck pain presents a personal and socioeconomic burden globally. Despite increasing prevalence, research on chronic neck pain (CNP) is limited and management relies on generalized approaches. There is growing interest in non-pharmacological interventions, however their efficacy remains uncertain due to the multifactorial etiology of CNP....

Objective Most pragmatic trials follow the PRagmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS-2) criteria. The criteria specify unobtrusive measurement of participants’ protocol adherence and practitioners’ intervention fidelity but suggest no special monitoring strategies to assure trial integrity. We present experience with adherence/fidel...

Objective Despite careful design of clinical trials, unforeseen disruptions can arise. The PICOTS (Patient population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcomes, Timepoints, Setting) framework was used to assess disruptions in pain management research imposed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) within the Pain Management Collaboratory. Methods Rapid q...

Background Best practices for clinical trials stipulate that statistical analysis plans (SAPs) need to be finalized before initiation of any analysis. However, there is limited guidance about when changes to SAPs are acceptable and how these changes should be incorporated into the research plan with appropriate documentation. Methods We conducted...

Objective We evaluate change in low back pain (LBP) intensity and interference as the mechanism by which chiropractic care affects other biopsychosocial factors in US active-duty military members. Design We conducted secondary, exploratory mediation analysis of pragmatic, multisite, clinical trial (NCT01692275) post results using natural effect mo...

This study evaluates biopsychosocial factors as mediators of the effect of chiropractic care on low back pain (LBP) intensity and interference for active-duty military members. Data from a multi-site, pragmatic clinical trial comparing six weeks of chiropractic care plus usual medical care to usual medical care alone for 750 US active-duty military...

Objectives: Chronic nonspecific neck pain (CNNP) is prevalent among health care workers, with particularly high rates among nurses. Nurses experiencing CNNP often report decreased job satisfaction, increased absenteeism, and reduced productivity. In recent years, nonpharmacologic approaches have gained attention as effective treatments for the mana...

Background Chiropractors commonly encounter patients who present for spine pain with parallel substance use. There is currently no widespread training within the chiropractic profession to prepare chiropractors to recognize and address substance use in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to examine chiropractors’ confidence, self-perce...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether patient characteristics were associated with face-to-face (F2F) and telehealth visits for those receiving chiropractic care for musculoskeletal conditions in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of...

Background: Differential movement, or shear strain (SS), between layers of thoracolumbar fascia is reduced with chronic low back pain. To provide a foundation for clinical research involving SS, this study assessed temporal stability and the effect of paraspinal muscle contraction on SS in persons with chronic low back pain. Methods: We used ult...

Background Thoracolumbar fascia mobility observed with ultrasound imaging and calculated as shear strain is lower in persons with chronic low back pain. This pilot and feasibility trial assessed thoracolumbar shear strain in persons with chronic low back pain following spinal manipulation and over an 8-week course of multimodal chiropractic care....

Background Falls in older adults are a significant and growing public health concern. There are multiple risk factors associated with falls that may be addressed within the scope of chiropractic training and licensure. Few attempts have been made to summarize existing evidence on multimodal chiropractic care and fall risk mitigation. Therefore, the...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the diagnoses and chiropractic services performed by doctors of chiropractic operating within 3 military treatment facilities for patients with low back pain (LBP). Methods: This was a descriptive secondary analysis of a pragmatic clinical trial comparing usual medical care (UMC) plus chiropra...

BACKGROUND Non-pharmacological care is recommended as a first line approach to managing musculoskeletal (MSK) pain conditions, yet the COVID-19 pandemic has created obstacles to patients receiving this care and has increased the potential for patients to receive opioids and other pharmacologic forms of pain management. The use of virtual care for n...

Background Over 25% of veterans seeking care at U.S. Veterans Health Administration facilities have chronic low back pain (LBP), with high rates of mental health comorbidities. The primary objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of participant recruitment, retention, and electronic data collection to prepare for the subsequent randomi...

Background The uptake of Self-Management Support (SMS) among clinicians is suboptimal. To date, few studies have tested knowledge translation (KT) interventions to increase the application of SMS in chiropractic teaching clinics. Study objective Evaluate the feasibility of implementing a KT intervention to promote the use of a SMS strategy among c...

Objective This study examines Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®)-29 v1.0 outcomes of chiropractic care in a multi-site, pragmatic clinical trial and compares the PROMIS measures to: 1) worst pain intensity from a numerical pain rating 0–10 scale, 2) 24-item Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ); and 3) global...

Background Low back pain (LBP) is common among military veterans seeking treatment in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare facilities. As chiropractic services within VA expand, well-designed pragmatic trials and implementation studies are needed to assess clinical effectiveness and program uptake. This study evaluated veteran stakeholder...

Objective The purpose of this study was to describe the use of face-to-face and telehealth chiropractic care in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) before and after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed of VHA administrative data, including monthly numbers of unique patients and...

Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are well-suited to address unmet healthcare needs, such as those arising from the dual public health crises of chronic pain and opioid misuse, recently exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These overlapping epidemics have complex, multifactorial etiologies, and PCTs can be used to investigate the effectiveness of i...

Objective The purpose of this study was to survey U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VA) chiropractors to assess current demographic and professional characteristics, including practice parameters, interprofessional collaboration, academic experience, and scholarly activity. Methods A cross-sectional survey was performed from August 21, 2019, to...

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between treatment escalation and spinal manipulation in a retrospective cohort of people diagnosed with musculoskeletal disorders of the cervical spine. Methods We used retrospective analysis of insurance claims data (2012-2018) from a single Fortune 500 company. After isolating...

Objectives: Numerous recently published clinical care guidelines, including the 2017 American College of Physicians (ACP) Guideline for Low Back Pain (LBP), call for nonpharmacological approaches to pain management. However, little data exist regarding the extent to which these guidelines have been adopted by patients and medical doctors. The study...

Conflicts of interest: No potential conflicts exist for any author listed.Abstract Background Low back pain is a leading cause of disability in veterans. Chiropractic care is a well-integrated, nonpharmacological therapy in Veterans Affairs health care facilities, where doctors of chiropractic provide therapeutic interventions focused on the manag...

Background Spinal manipulation may reduce migraine frequency, but effects of multimodal chiropractic care on migraine frequency have not been evaluated. Methods We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing multimodal chiropractic care + enhanced usual care (MCC+) versus enhanced usual care alone (EUC) among adult women with episodic...

Objectives: To investigate whether chiropractic care influences strength, balance, and/or endurance in active-duty United States military personnel with low back pain (LBP). Design: This study employed a prospective randomized controlled trial using a pragmatic treatment approach. Participants were randomly allocated to 4 weeks of chiropractic car...

Introduction: Approximately 15% of the US population experiences migraine, with women afflicted three times as often as men. While medications are often used as first-line treatments, up to 50% of people with migraine pursue complementary and integrative medicine. One promising non-pharmacological approach for migraine is chiropractic care, due to...

Background: The literature supports the effectiveness of self-management support (SMS) to improve health outcomes of patients with chronic spine pain. However, patient engagement in SMS programs is suboptimal. The objectives of this study were to: 1) assess participation in self-care (i.e. activation) among patients with spine pain, 2) identify pa...

Chronic pain is quite prevalent and causes significant disabilities and socioeconomic burdens. Spinal manipulative therapy and other manipulative therapies are used to manage chronic pain. There is a critical knowledge gap about mechanisms and sites of action in spinal manipulative therapy pain relief, especially the short-term analgesia that occur...

Background Several small studies have suggested that spinal manipulation may be an effective treatment for reducing migraine pain and disability. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to evaluate the evidence regarding spinal manipulation as an alternative or integrative therapy in reducin...

Background Chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) has been shown to improve reaction time in some clinical studies. Slight changes in reaction time can be critical for military personnel, such as special operation forces (SOF). This trial was conducted to test whether CMT could lead to improved reaction and response time in combat-ready SOF-qualif...

Background Low back pain (LBP) is a common cause of disability among U.S. military personnel. Approximately 20% of all diagnoses resulting in disability discharges are linked to back-related conditions. Because LBP can negatively influence trunk muscle strength, balance, and endurance, the military readiness of active-duty military personnel with L...

Background: Clinical practice guidelines generally recommend clinicians use self-management support (SMS) when managing patients with spine pain. However, even within the educational setting, the implementation of SMS remains suboptimal. The objectives of this study were to 1) estimate the organizational readiness for change toward using SMS at th...

Importance It is critically important to evaluate the effect of nonpharmacological treatments on low back pain and associated disability. Objective To determine whether the addition of chiropractic care to usual medical care results in better pain relief and pain-related function when compared with usual medical care alone. Design, Setting, and P...

Objective: To determine effects of thrust manipulation plus one conservative intervention for non-surgical shoulder pain and disability due to rotator cuff dysfunction. Methods: This review followed PRISMA guidelines. The databases searched were PubMed, PEDro, ICL, CINAHL, and AMED. Included were randomized trials with at least one group assigne...

Spinal manipulative therapy, including low-velocity variable-amplitude spinal manipulation (LVVA-SM), relieves chronic low back pain, especially in patients with neuropathic radiating leg pain following peripheral nervous system insult. Understanding the underlying analgesic mechanisms requires animal models. The aim of the current study was to dev...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between self-reported use of opioids by patients with neck and back pain and their demographics, pain characteristics, treatment preferences, and recollections of their physicians' opinions regarding treatment options. Methods: We analyzed 2017 Gallup Poll survey data from 1680...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated care pathway for doctors of chiropractic, primary care providers, and mental health professionals who manage veterans with low back pain, with or without mental health comorbidity, within Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities. Methods: The research method used was...

Background Low back pain is a debilitating condition for older adults, who may seek healthcare from multiple providers. Few studies have evaluated impacts of different healthcare delivery models on back pain outcomes in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of older adults receiving back pain treatment under 3...

Background Spinal manipulation (SM) is used commonly for treating low back pain (LBP). Spinal stiffness is routinely assessed by clinicians performing SM. Flexion-relaxation ratio (FRR) was shown to distinguish between LBP and healthy populations. The primary objective of this study was to examine the association of these two physiological variable...

Purpose Older adults seek health care for low back pain from multiple providers who may not coordinate their treatments. This study evaluated the perceived feasibility of a patient-centered practice model for back pain, including facilitators for interprofessional collaboration between family medicine physicians and doctors of chiropractic. Design...

Purpose: Although many conservative management options are available for patients with non-surgical shoulder conditions, there is little evidence of their effectiveness. This review investigated one manual therapy approach, thrust manipulation, as a treatment option. Methods: A systematic search was conducted of the electronic databases from inc...

Background Chiropractic care is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal conditions and has been endorsed by clinical practice guidelines as being evidence-based and cost-effective for the treatment of patients with low back pain. Gaps in the literature exist regarding the physiological outcomes of chiropractic treatment. Previous pilot work has indi...

Background: Online education programs are becoming a popular means to disseminate knowledge about evidence-based practice (EBP) among healthcare practitioners. This mode of delivery also offers a viable and potentially sustainable solution for teaching consistent EBP content to learners over time and across multiple geographical locations. We cond...

Objective: The purpose of this pilot sham-controlled clinical trial was to estimate the treatment effect and safety of toggle recoil spinal manipulation for blood pressure management. Methods: Fifty-one participants with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure ranging from 135 to 159 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ran...

Purpose: This pilot study evaluated practice models that added chiropractic care to family medicine for older adults with low back pain (LBP). Methods: The design was a 2-site, prospective, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial. After screening 634 adults age ≥65 years, we allocated 131 to 3 treatments: 1) medical care only; (Med, n=43), 2) concur...

Background Low back pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common causes of disability in U.S. armed forces personnel. Currently, no single therapeutic method has been established as a gold standard treatment for this increasingly prevalent condition. One commonly used treatment, which has demonstrated consistent positive outcomes in terms of...

Study design: Electrophysiological recordings were obtained from proprioceptors in deep lumbar paraspinal muscles of anesthetized cats during high velocity low amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM). Objective: To determine how thrust direction of an HVLA-SM affects neural input from back musculature. Summary of background data: A clinician's...

Study design: A three-arm controlled trial with adaptive allocation. Objectives: To compare short-term effects of a side-lying, thrust spinal manipulation (SM) procedure and a non-thrust, flexion-distraction SM procedure in adults with subacute or chronic low back pain (LBP) over 2 weeks. Summary of background data: SM has been recommended in...

Optimizing pain relief resulting from spinal manipulative therapies, including low velocity variable amplitude spinal manipulation (LVVA-SM), requires determining their mechanisms. Pain models that incorporate simulated spinal manipulative therapy treatments are needed for these studies. The antinociceptive effects of a single LVVA-SM treatment on...

Low back pain (LBP) is a major health problem in industrialized societies. Spinal manipulation (SM) is often used for treating LBP, though the therapeutic mechanisms remain elusive. Research suggests that sensorimotor changes may be involved in LBP. It is hypothesized that SM may generate its beneficial effects by affecting sensorimotor functions....

Manual cervical distraction (MCD) is a traction-based therapy performed with a manual contact over the cervical region producing repeating cycles while patients lie prone. This study evaluated a traction force-based minimal intervention for use as an attention-touch control in clinical trials of MCD for patients with chronic neck pain. We conducted...

A few spinal manipulation techniques use paraspinal surface thermography as an examination tool that informs clinical-decision making; however, inter-examiner reliability of this interpretation has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to report inter-examiner reliability for classifying cervical paraspinal thermographic findings. Sevent...

Objectives: Neck pain is second most common condition treated by doctors of chiropractic (DCs). This study quantified DC-applied traction forces, posterior-to-anterior (PA) forces, and force durations during a clinical trial of manual cervical distraction (MCD). Methods: This study received institutional review board approval. 48 consented partici...

Evidence based practice (EBP) is being increasingly utilized by health care professionals as a means of improving the quality of health care. The introduction of EBP principles into the chiropractic profession is a relatively recent phenomenon. There is currently a lack of information about the EBP literacy level of US chiropractors and the barrier...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal complaint responsive to manual therapies. Doctors of chiropractic commonly use manual cervical distraction, a mobilization procedure, to treat neck pain patients. However, it is unknown if clinicians can consistently apply standardized cervical traction forces, a critical step toward identif...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal complaint responsive to manual therapies. Doctors of chiropractic commonly use manual cervical distraction, a mobilization procedure, to treat neck pain patients. However, it is unknown if clinicians can consistently apply standardized cervical traction forces, a critical step toward identif...

Systematic investigations are needed identifying how variability in the biomechanical characteristics of spinal manipulation affects physiological responses. Such knowledge may inform future clinical practice and research study design. To determine how contact site for high velocity, low amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM) affects sensory input...

Background: Back-related leg pain (BRLP) is often disabling and costly, and there is a paucity of research to guide its management. Objective: To determine whether spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) plus home exercise and advice (HEA) compared with HEA alone reduces leg pain in the short and long term in adults with BRLP. Design: Controlled pra...

Background Low back pain (LBP) is a major health issue due to its high prevalence rate and socioeconomic cost. While spinal manipulation (SM) is recommended for LBP treatment by recently published clinical guidelines, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Spinal stiffness is routinely examined and used in clinical decisions for SM d...

Objectives: To present the varied approaches of 9 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) institutions (all grantees of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) used to develop faculty expertise in research literacy and evidence-based practice (EBP) in order to integrate these concepts into CAM curricula. Design: A su...

Objectives: High-velocity low-amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM), as performed by doctors who use manual therapy (eg, doctors of chiropractic and osteopathy), results in mechanical hypoalgesia in clinical settings. This hypoalgesic effect has previously been attributed to alterations in peripheral and/or central pain processing. The objective...

Objective: Individuals experiencing low back pain often present clinically with intervertebral joint dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether relative changes in stiffness at a single spinal joint alters neural responsiveness of lumbar muscle spindles to either vertebral movement or position. Methods: Muscle spindle discha...

Purpose: Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal complaint responsive to manual therapies. Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) may use manual cervical distraction (MCD), a mobilization procedure used to treat neck pain patients. However, it is unknown if clinicians can consistently apply standardized cervical traction forces, a critical step toward ident...

Purpose: Bakris et al. reported dramatic blood pressure (BP) lowering effects resulting from an upper cervical manipulation technique (NUCCA) in narrowly selected patients with Stage 1 hypertension. Our study compared BP changes between a similar but more commonly used upper cervical technique, Toggle Recoil (TR), and a sham intervention (SI) in a...

The purpose of this study was to determine how the preload that precedes a high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM) affects muscle spindle input from lumbar paraspinal muscles both during and after the HVLA-SM. Primary afferent activity from muscle spindles in lumbar paraspinal muscles were recorded from the L6 dorsal root in anes...

Evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP) is a practice model gaining prominence within healthcare, including the chiropractic profession. The status of EBCP has been evaluated in a variety of healthcare disciplines, but little is known regarding the attitudes doctors of chiropractic (DCs) hold toward this model of healthcare. This project examines t...

Manual therapy practitioners commonly assess lumbar intervertebral mobility before deciding treatment regimens. Changes in mechanoreceptor activity during the manipulative thrust are theorized to be an underlying mechanism of spinal manipulation (SM) efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine if facet fixation or facetectomy at a single...

Like other factors that can influence treatment efficacy (eg, dosage, frequency, time of day), the site of treatment application is known to affect various physical interventions such as topical anesthetics and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Like these examples, spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a physical intervention that may exhibit maximal b...

Temporomandibular pain has multiple etiologies and a range of therapeutic options. In this pilot study, the authors assessed the feasibility of conducting a larger trial to evaluate chiropractic treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The authors assigned 80 participants randomly into one of the following four groups, all of which included...

Objectives: TMD pain is often associated with increased levels of depression. This study presents secondary analysis data for depression outcomes from a pilot RCT evaluating pain and function outcomes for TMD patients. Methods: 80 individuals were recruited and completed 2 baseline exams. At the second baseline subjects were randomized to one of...

Objectives: TMD pain has multiple etiologies and a range of therapeutic options. A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Activator method of chiropractic for treatment of TMD. Methods: Subjects (n=80) were recruited through two baseline exams including a ca...

Introduction: Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) may refer and co-manage older adults with low back pain (LBP) with other health care providers. However, DC practice patterns and attitudes toward co-management of these patients are not established. Methods: Following ethics approval, 199 DCs were invited to complete a 53-item mailed survey on self-repor...

Objective: Mechanical characteristics of high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulations (HVLA-SMs) can vary. Sustained changes in peripheral neuronal signaling due to altered load transmission to a sensory receptor's local mechanical environment are often considered a mechanism contributing to the therapeutic effects of spinal manipulation. The...

Background Low back pain is a prevalent and debilitating condition that affects the health and quality of life of older adults. Older people often consult primary care physicians about back pain, with many also receiving concurrent care from complementary and alternative medicine providers, most commonly doctors of chiropractic. However, a collabor...

High velocity low amplitude spinal manipulation (HVLA-SM) is used frequently to treat musculoskeletal complaints. Little is known about the intervention's biomechanical characteristics that determine its clinical benefit. Using an animal preparation, we determined how neural activity from lumbar muscle spindles during a lumbar HVLA-SM is affected b...

The aim of the Evidence for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Healthcare Options (ECHO): Nurturing Community-Campus Partnerships for Musculoskeletal Health project was to understand the process through which a community health center and a chiropractic college might offer collaborative and patient-centered health services for people with...

Study design: Randomized controlled trial. Objective: To assess changes in pain levels and physical functioning in response to standard medical care (SMC) versus SMC plus chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) for the treatment of low back pain (LBP) among 18 to 35-year-old active-duty military personnel. Summary of background data: LBP is co...