|
Please click on the statements below for more detail.
Federal Government Panel
Endorses Spinal Manipulation For Acute Low Back Problems
Chiropractic Management of Low-Back Pain is More
Cost-Effective Than Medical Management
Fewer Work Days Lost With Chiropractic Management
Chiropractic May be First Choice for Several Low-Back
Conditions
Medical Society Recognizes Chiropractic Adjustment
and Manipulation—"Accepted and Well-Established"
RAND Corporation Study—Chiropractic Care Appropriate
for Low Back Pain
Journal of Occupational Medicine—Compensation
Costs Ten Times Lower
Federal Government
Panel Endorses Spinal Manipulation For Acute Low Back Problems
A comprehensive federal government study performed
by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services determined that spinal manipulation
is a recommended and efficacious form of initial treatment for acute low
back problems in adults.
In its clinical practice guideline, the 23-member panel
consisting of medical doctors, nurses, doctors of chiropractic, osteopaths,
physical therapists, an occupational therapist, experts in spine research,
a psychologist and a consumer representative, concluded that expensive
tests, prescription drugs and surgical procedures used to diagnose and
treat acute low back pain are largely ineffective. Rather, experts recommend
spinal manipulation, a procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic,
as being an effective treatment for low back conditions
Bigos, et. al, Acute Low Back Problems in
Adults, Clinical Practice Guidelines, AHCPR, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Rockville, MD, December 1994.
Back to the top of the page
Chiropractic Management of
Low-Back Pain is More Cost-Effective Than Medical Management
High-risk Surgery has Serious Implications
This study commissioned by the Ministry of Health in Ontario,
Canada concluded that chiropractic management is greatly superior to medical
management in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost-effectiveness
and patient satisfaction. According to the study results "there would
be highly significant cost savings if more management of low back pain
as transferred from physicians to chiropractors." There is also good empirical
evidence that patients are very satisfied with chiropractic management
of low back pain and considerably less satisfied with physician management.
Manga, et al. The Effectiveness and cost
Effectiveness of Chiropractic Management of Low-Back Pain. Ministry of
Health, Government of Ontario, September 1993.
Back to the top of the page
Fewer Work Days Lost With
Chiropractic Management
This workers' compensation study published in the Chiropractic Journal
of Australia compared chiropractic and medical management of 1,996 cases
of work-related mechanical low back pain. The number of compensation
days (paid days off from work) taken by claimants was found to be significantly
lower an average of 6.26 days for chiropractic patients and 25.56 days
for medical patients. The average cost of compensation for chiropractic
management was $392 and for medical management, $1,569 or four times
greater than chiropractic management.
Findings included:
- A significant reduction was seen in the number of claimants
requiring compensation days when chiropractic care was chosen.
- Fewer compensation days were taken by claimants who chose
chiropractic care.
- More patients progressed to chronic status when medical
care was chosen.
- The average payment per claim was greater with medical
management.
"Mechanical Low-Back Pain: A Comparison
of Medical and Chiropractic Management Within the Victorian WorkCare
Scheme," Ebrall, P.S. Chiropractic Journal of Australia, June 1992,
22:2, 48-53.
Back to the top of the page
Chiropractic May
be First Choice for Several Low-Back Conditions
The University of Richmond conducted an economic
analysis in January of 1992 which concluded that chiropractic care is
a lower cost option for prominent back-related ailments. One explanation
for this is the lower insurance coverage of chiropractic care. If chiropractic
care is insured to the extent other specialties are stipulated, it may
emerge as a first option for patients with certain medical conditions.
This could result in a decrease in overall treatment costs for these
conditions.
"A Comparison of the costs of Chiropractors
versus Alternative Medical Practitioners," Dean, DH, Schmidt, R.M.,
University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 13 January 1992.
Back to the top of the page
Medical Society Recognizes
Chiropractic Adjustment and Manipulation÷"Accepted and Well-Established"
The North American Spine Society's Diagnostic and
Therapeutic Committee has included chiropractic adjustment and manipulation
in their general guide of common clinical procedures for doctors treating
patients with lumbosacral spinal disorders. The North American Spine
Society (NASS) is a prestigious medical organization that publishes
the monthly professional journal, Spine.
The Committee's recommended list of procedures appears in the October
1991 issue of Spine, and categorizes chiropractic adjustment and manipulation
as a "Phase I÷Non-Operative Therapeutic Procedure ... generally accepted,
well established and widely used" for lumbosacral conditions.
This medically oriented spine care organization's formal recognition
and acceptance of chiropractic procedures signals the final episode
in the long history of mistrust and misunderstanding fostered by organized
medicine.
"Common Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures
of the Lumbosacral Spine," The North American Spine Society - Ad Hoc
Committee of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures. Spine, October 1991;
16:10, 1161-1167.
Back to the top of the page
RAND Corporation
Study÷Chiropractic Care Appropriate for Low Back Pain
A two-year multi-disciplinary study has issued reports
that validate the assertion that spinal manipulation is an appropriate
option for low back pain. The research was conducted by RAND, in Santa
Monica, California, one of America's most prestigious centers for research.
The research panel includes medial, chiropractic and osteopathic doctors
who are recognized experts in low back pain.
Significant conclusions reached in the first two reports issued in
August 1991 are:
-
Twenty one controlled research trials on low back
pain have been identified in the medical literature that have found
varying degrees of benefits from spinal manipulation.
-
An expert panel of medical, chiropractic and osteopathic
experts agree that spinal manipulation is appropriate treatment for
acute, uncomplicated low back pain and for acute low back pain with
minor neurological findings. (A great majority of low back conditions
fall into the above categories.)
-
The expert panel also concluded that in clinical
practice, four weeks is a reasonable trial period for spinal manipulation.
(The common prior medical position was that manipulation should be
given only one to three times.)
Note: The California Chiropractic Foundation and the Consortium for
chiropractic Research supported this research project. These groups asked
RAND to conduct this series of studies to insure that all health care
providers and policy makers have access to independent and unimpeachable
information evaluating the appropriateness of chiropractic care.
"The Appropriateness of Spinal Manipulation
for Low-Back Pain, Report 1: Project Overview and Literature Review,
Report 2: Indications and Ratings by a Multi-Disciplinary Expert Panel,"
Shekelle et al, RAND Reports R-4025/1 and R-4025/2, August 1991. Santa
Monica, California.
Back to the top of the page
Journal of Occupational
Medicine÷Compensation Costs Ten Times Lower
In direct comparison, compensation costs for chiropractic
patients were ten times lower than medical costs according to this published
report. This study, found in the August 1991 Journal of Occupational
Medicine, assessed the total cost for back injury claims from the 1986
Workers' Compensation Fund of Utah. Researchers used standard matching
diagnostic codes for patients with back injuries who were treated by
either doctors of chiropractic or medical doctors.
Findings include:
-
Compensation costs were ten times lower for chiropractic
doctors' patients ($68) than for medical doctors' patients ($668)
-
Treatment costs were "significantly higher" for medical
doctors ($684) than for chiropractic doctors ($527).
-
Medical patients received an average of 54.5 days
of compensation while chiropractic patients needed and average of
only 34.3 days of compensation.
-
Patients under care see a DC three times more frequently
(12.9 visits) than a medical doctor (4.9 visits) but at a less cost
overall.
"Costs Per Case Comparison of Back Injury Claims of Chiropractic Versus Medical Management for Conditions with Identical Diagnostic Codes," Jarvis et al. Journal of Occupational Medicine, August 1991; 33:8, 847-852.
Back to the top of the page
No individuals, including those under our active
care, should use the information, resources or tools contained within
to self-diagnosis or self-treat any health-related condition. Diagnosis
and treatment of all health conditions should only be performed by the
doctor or other licensed health care professional.
|
