Blood pressure changes in African American patients receiving chiropractic care in a teaching clinic: a preliminary study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this preliminary study was to determine if a course of chiropractic care would change blood pressure measurements in African American patients and to determine if a study was feasible in a chiropractic teaching clinic.MethodsTwenty-four African American patients received chiropractic care in a chiropractic teaching clinic over a study period that spanned 23 visits for each patient. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients having a diagnosis of prehypertension (120-139/80-89) or hypertension stage 1 (140-159/90-99). The mean values of 3 baseline blood pressure readings were compared with the mean values of blood pressure readings taken on visits 21, 22, and 23.ResultsFor the entire sample, reductions for both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were not statistically significant (P > .07). When 4 patients having body mass index values that were considered as outliers were excluded, a statistically significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure was observed (P = .004). By group, a statistically significant reduction occurred in the hypertension stage 1 group for systolic and diastolic blood pressures.ConclusionThis study showed that research of this nature may be feasible in chiropractic teaching clinics. The preliminary findings of this study showed that, for a subgroup of African American patients receiving chiropractic care, blood pressure decreased for (a) hypertension stage 1 patients and (b) the sample when those with excessive body mass index were excluded.