The 2023 patient profile and clinical management characteristics at a South African chiropractic training clinic: a descriptive cross-sectional study

Clinical training within chiropractic education relies on exposure to diverse case mix to develop clinical competence. South African institution-based chiropractic clinics are essential learning environments and providers of affordable musculoskeletal healthcare. Periodic evaluation of patient profiles tracks evolving populations and healthcare utilisation, informing longitudinal comparisons. The purpose was therefore to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of new patients presenting to the University of Johannesburg Chiropractic Clinic (UJCC) in 2023. A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional review screened all new patient files created between January 1, and June 30, 2023. Routinely documented information from initial consultation to extraction (May–July 2025) was manually captured from eligible files using a structured form, including age, sex, complaint regions, number of visits, and modalities utilised over complaint stages (primary/secondary/tertiary). Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations) were generated using IBM SPSS v30, with non-parametric tests applied where appropriate. Of 1435 files screened, 880 were included [54% female; mean age 40.9(± 17.51) years]. Secondary and tertiary complaints were reported in 39.1% and 14.8% of patients. When aggregated across all complaint stages lumbar (41.5%) and cervical (32.8%) regions predominated. Treatment episodes were brief [primary: mean 2.31(± 2.06) sessions, 72% ≤2 visits; secondary: mean 2.88(± 2.98), 62.2% ≤2 visits; overall: mean 4.24(± 4.98), 49.6% ≤2 visits]. Management was multimodal and manual-therapy-led: manipulation/mobilisation (primary: 94.8%; secondary 98.5%), massage (68.1%; 65.1%), and myofascial dry needling (40.1%; 59.9%) used in most cases; shockwave was utilised for 15.8% of primary and 23.3% of secondary cases, while laser therapy (0%; 0.2%) was rare. Sex- and age-related patterns of regional examinations were generally consistent. Age showed a weak positive correlation with the number of secondary-complaint sessions (ρ = 0.151, p = 0.005, n = 344). UJCC’s 2023 case mix was predominantly adult, spine-dominant, featuring brief treatment courses consisting of multimodal, manual-therapy-led care with selective use of adjunctive soft-tissue and electrophysical modalities. This study provides an updated baseline for curriculum review, resource planning, and longitudinal benchmarking with other training clinics and private practices.