chiropractic care , in which only 55 % completed addiction treatment and recommendations . Of the 16 initially enrolled , 11 participants followed through with their adjustments and completed all pre- and poststudy paperwork . Of the 11 participants that followed through with all study requirements ( adjustments , pre- and post-paperwork / re-examination ), all 11 were compliant with treatment and after-care recommendations . All participants were required to complete self-reported assessment tools both before and after to track the severity of their pain ,” said Dr . McBride .
Participant Final Results
• QVAS , PROMIS Global Mental and Physical Health , NDI and RODI scores were tracked throughout the study .
• Four of 11 participants experienced a reduction in QVAS scores .
• Ten participants improved in global physical health .
• Eight participants improved in global mental health .
• 100 % of participants reported neck disability improvements .
• 75 % of participants reported improvement in the low back region .
• Two subjects completing the RODI reported no change .
Patients were also given chiropractic referrals at the end of this study .
Dr . Tom Le Leivre , M . S . in Exercise Physiology ; Advisor Stephanie Sullivan , D . C ., Ph . D ., Director , Dr . Sid E . Williams Center for Chiropractic Research
“ WHOOP Research ”
Working with Dr . Austin Cohen , CEO of Corrective Chiropractic , and Dr . Le Lievre , a Life University D . C . alumnus and current Life University master ’ s student , a study was conducted of chiropractic patients from Corrective Chiropractic offices who are utilizing the WHOOP Band . WHOOP is a $ 4 billion company that created and manufactures this device . The aim of the study is to objectively track how patients respond to chiropractic care . Among other health metrics , the WHOOP Band measures Heart Rate Variability ( HRV ), used to objectively view how a person ’ s autonomic nervous system is functioning . Knowing a person ’ s HRV , their resting heart rate , heart rate during activity , along with body temperature and oxygen saturation all give the clinician objective measurements instead of subjective measurements , such as how the patient is “ feeling .”
“ This research is about providing patients and clinicians a different way to evaluate health . Instead of focusing on pain or crisis care , the dialogue between the clinician and patient can focus on improving baseline health metrics and the longterm overall well-being of the patient ,” said Dr . Stephanie Sullivan .
There are 80 Corrective Chiropractic patients who have signed consent forms and participated in the initial data pool , which was collected in July 2022 . For the past several months , the team has been deciphering this data .
“ We are midway through the initial phase ,” noted Dr . Sullivan . “ The benefit of the WHOOP band is that assessments are not confined to what is assessed when the patient is in the office .”
Mackenzie Keller , D . C . Student ; Brent Russell , M . S ., D . C ., Professor , Life University , College of Chiropractic ; Chair , Institutional Review Board ,; Dr . Sid E . Williams Center for Chiropractic Research
“ Angular Kinematics of Chiropractic Supine Cervical Adjustment ”
Phase I of this research was conducted by Dr . Brent Russell and his colleague from Texas Chiropractic College , Shari Wynd , D . C ., Ph . D ., and completed in 2017 .
RISE Scholarship recipient Mackenzie Keller worked with Dr . Russell on the second phase of this research . They performed 15 more adjustments with Keller ’ s involvement , adding to eight adjustments recorded in Phase I . From their research , they were able to present their paper at the Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda 2021 Virtual Conference ( ACC-RAC ). Life U received one of 10 for Best in Conference Award for this paper at the 2021 conference . Also , their paper , combining both Phase I and Phase II , is in review with the Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics ( JMPT ). The revisions for this paper are complete , and the team is waiting for the official acceptance from JMPT . Other authors include Drs . Ron Hosek , Ed Owens and Kathryn Hoiriis .
“ In a third phase , Mackenzie took on the role of principal investigator and is receiving a Research Track scholarship for the work . We recruited three groups based on level of experience : early-quarter students with training but no patient experience and later-quarter students with outpatient clinic experience ( 26 students in all ) and 12 experienced DCs . They performed two thrusts with their left hand and two thrusts with their right hand on the PAT mannequins ,” said Dr . Russell .
Every thrust was applied to a PAT mannequin , making the patient universal for the results and allowing them to collect more data . The IMUs were again used , and by performing four thrusts ( something that would not be done on a human patient ), they could look at the participant ’ s consistency of rotation and whether there were differences according to the dominant and non-dominant hands .
“ The basic question for this research was ‘ How much rotation does occur ?’ Excessive rotation is claimed to be the culprit causing injuries during cervical adjustments . In this study , we found , on average , a little over 30 degrees of rotation ( as a comparison , when a person looks over their shoulder , the normal limit is about 70-80 degrees ). There wasn ’ t much difference in the rotation ( two-three degrees at most ) between the DCs performing adjustments on other DCs and thrusts performed on PAT by DCs or students at either level ,” said Dr . Russell .
In conclusion , 30-33 degrees rotations are what they found and on average it was a 32-degree rotation on the patients .
College of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies
Jazmyne Hambrick ( Graduated in Fall of 2022 ), Human Ecology Student , Dr . Stephanie Wakefield , Program Coordinator + Assistant Professor | Human Ecology Program , Research Chair
“ Butterfly Research Project ”
Life University Human Ecology student , Jazmyn Hambrick wants to let people know
Alumni . life . edu | 2022
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