Chiropractic utilization in BMX athletes at the UCI World Championships: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE To examine paramedical (chiropractic, physiotherapy and massage therapy) utilization among high-level BMX athletes following sport-related injury at the 2007 UCI World Championships. METHODS Retrospective analysis was conducted on a dataset from international male and female BMX athletes (n = 110) who sustained injury in training and competition at the 2007 BMX World Championships. RESULTS Fifty percent of individuals aged 8-17 presented to a chiropractor versus 32% to physiotherapists and 18% to massage therapists. There was a significant difference in paramedical practitioner choice when comparing the sample across the different locations of injury. Specifically, the proportion of individuals presenting for treatment to chiropractors (84%) was much higher than to physiotherapists/massage therapists (16%) for spine or torso complaints. CONCLUSION Utilization of chiropractors by BMX athletes may be higher than utilization of other paramedical professionals as suggested by this study. Chiropractors appear to be the paramedical practitioner of choice in regards to spine and torso related complaints.