SIB #379 Chiropractic Patient Characteristics
The Study: Understanding patient profiles and characteristics of current chiropractic practice: a cross-sectional Ontario Chiropractic Observation and Analysis STudy (O-COAST).
The Facts:
a. The authors reviewed at 3523 patient visits.
b. 59% of the patients seen were female between 45 to 64 years of age (43%).
c. 49% had back problems with 15% having neck problems.
d. Only 0.86% being of the visits were “related to maintenance/preventive care”.
e. Only 1.3% of the visits were for non-musculoskeletal problems.
f. 53.5% of the patients felt that they were in “excellent/very good health.”
g. “Almost 90% rated their quality of life as excellent/very good…”
h. 39.4% of the patient in the sample were referred by other patients.
i. “Future research relevant to the chiropractic profession can be guided to ensure it is directed towards the most common presentations, so as to help reduce the high societal burden associated with musculoskeletal disorders.”
k. ” The most common treatments included spinal manipulation (72%), soft tissue therapy (70%) and mobilisation (35%).”
l. “About a quarter of patients reported that their level of activity was a great deal or extremely limited because of pain.”
Take Home:
Most patients are seen for neck or back problems. The most common treatment rendered is spinal manipulation followed by soft tissue therapy and then mobilization. About a quarter of patients related that their activity level was limited due to pain.
Reviewer's Comments:
I think most of us could have come relatively close to forecasting many of these findings. Back and neck pain are the most common problems seen in this study and common types of care were spinal manipulation, soft tissue therapy and mobilization. I was disappointed that such a small portion of patients came in for “maintenance care” although I freely admit to having many problems with the term “maintenance care” which has traditionally been associated with monthly visits, and about which we know very little in terms of real patient benefits. It would be a complex study and yet it seems strange that a profession which has concerned itself for so long with the concept of “maintenance” care, still knows so little in real terms about it.
Reviewer: Roger Coleman DC
Editor’s Comments: There was nothing inherently wrong about this study, but when I see comments like “Future research relevant to the chiropractic profession can be guided to ensure it is directed towards the most common presentations, so as to help reduce the high societal burden associated with musculoskeletal disorders” (See above), I just want to scream. At a time when so many basic questions remain unanswered in chiropractic, I am pretty sure one more paper on LBP might just push me over the edge. End of rant.
Editor: Mark R. Payne DC
Reference: Mior S, Wong J, Sutton D et al. Understanding patient profiles and characteristics of current chiropractic practice: a cross-sectional Ontario Chiropractic Observation and Analysis STudy (O-COAST). BMJ Open. 2019 Aug 26;9(8):e029851. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029851.
Link to Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31455707