While the percentages of chiropractors recommending and selling herbal products lags behind those recommending and selling nutritional products, some of the same relationships exist between the percentages. Clearly, the percentage of DCs that sell nutritional products to half or almost all of their patients is approximately twice the percentages that sell herbal products.

DCs are less likely to want to recommend herbs to "almost all" of their patients, but confident in recommending herbs to at least half of them. It will be interesting to see if how these percentages change as more herbal studies are published.

Quality and Philosophy

Seventy-nine percent of DCs "totally agree" that they are confident in the quality of the herbal products offered to the profession, with another 18 percent who partially agree. This leaves only 4 percent who might be considered skeptical. This reflects a level of confidence that is on par with that shown for nutritional supplements.

A total of 96 percent of DCs (64 percent totally agree and 32 percent somewhat agree) believe in the philosophy of the vendors who supply their herbal products. Again, this is very similar to the agreement in the nutritional philosophy that is shared by the U.S. chiropractic profession with its many vendors. These results suggest that herbal products and nutritional products may be viewed very similarly by doctors. A future study should examine how doctors view their nutritional philosophy and their herbal philosophy as they address patient needs.

Summary

Doctors of chiropractic in the United States have a significant number of vendors providing numerous choices of herbal products for their patients. A little less than half (42 percent) of chiropractors are purchasing herbal products from three or more companies. The confidence in product quality combined with an appreciation for the herbal philosophy seems to have resulted in an environment where DCs can effectively utilize herbs in their practice. The variety of condition types that DCs are addressing with herbal recommendations and sales are similar to those that could be addressed with nutritional supplementation.

While more doctors are recommending and selling nutritional products to more of their patients, the percentage that are offering herbal products appears to be substantial. DCs that are not currently offering herbal products may want to look at these as another service to their patients, especially as new studies are published.

References

1. Product Recommendation Survey. MPA Media, completed June 2006.
2. Nutritional Supplement Survey. MPA Media, completed Sept. 16, 2009.

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