The first national survey of Americans, and what they think about chiropractic, shows some good news and some bad news for the profession. Palmer College in Davenport hired the Gallup organization to design and conduct the survey, and earlier this year it measured the attitudes of more than 54-hundred people.
Palmer Chancellor, Dennis Marchiori, says earlier surveys showed only about 8 per cent of Americans used chiropractic, while Gallup found 14 per cent have seen a chiropractor during the past year.
On the negative side, respondents do not realize the length and breadth of chiropractic training, and some worry about the safety of chiropractic.
He says it's very safe.
Doctor Marchiori says the next steps include studying these "barriers" to chiropractic, and figuring out how to remove them.
Palmer College also plans more surveys in the coming years, based on what was learned in this one.