Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research solidifies
the role of healthcare’s relief of pain. In
chiropractic healthcare, much research entails providing
evidence of chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal pain
issues like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Apple Country Chiropractic offers just such research-documented, effective care to our
Williamson chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
One set of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to come up with long-term
plans to decrease the problem of low back pain
on sufferers and healthcare systems. They clarified
that developing effective strategies continues to be a
huge task for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Frustratingly, back pain disability levels have not
increased despite a larger number of
published research reports regarding back pain care.
No consensus on the best way to handle low back pain
has been agreed upon. Non-drug and non-invasive options
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are typical
recommendations. Another group of reviewing researchers indicated a few issues with back pain research: design
and analysis within the treatment clinical trials. (1) Designing research
studies is difficult. Coming up with a “sham”
protocol for spinal manipulation that seems like spinal
manipulation is really challenging. (Just touching a spine can
help some, but that’s a topic for another discussion!) Observational studies are the next in line. How so? Researchers observe what happens to patients when they go
through treatment and describe changes and effects. Fortunately, Cox®
Technic research has a blend of biomechanical and clinical
observational studies resulting in case reports, case series, as well as
retrospective and prospective clinical studies. Apple Country Chiropractic feels this mix of
research support helps define to our Williamson chiropractic patients
what clinical outcome relief they may expect.
MINIMAL CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Sometimes, chiropractic
physicians and low back pain patients alike are disappointed
with the outcomes of treatment for back pain. They shouldn’t
be! In medicine, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is reported 30% or 20% and even 10% improvement. That’s reported to
be an “effective” outcome. Cox® Technic has offered 50%
improvement in 30 days as the goal…and still does. Often, chiropractic patients find that 50% relief in less
than 30 days and that the 50% relief is more like
70% or 80% or 90%! Sometimes, a patient’s response may be slower in getting
relief or only reaches 30% or 40%. Some patients desire more while
others, especially patients who have already
gone through back surgery or sought non-relieving care
from many other providers, are quite satisfied. A study
of 1232 low back pain subjects found a MCID pain intensity of
2 (meaning a 2 point change on a scale of 0 no pain to 10 worst
imaginable pain). That is not a big move but is realistic.
(2) It’s a statistic to share. Compared
with medical and surgical outcomes for back pain treatment that are as low
as 10% or 30% expected improvement MCID, our Williamson chiropractic
clinical outcome objectives are high and frequently
achievable.
THE CHALLENGE OF CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH – AND HOW CHIROPRACTIC
ANSWERS
Chiropractic, like other complementary and integrative
healthcare professions, experiences a little more effort
in keeping research flowing as many
programs are not in large university situations
with well-established and well-funded research departments. Global
chiropractic researchers are looking for am amswer. Australia, Canada, and Denmark chiropractic
researchers have created a leadership academy (CARL – Chiropractic
Academy for Research Leadership) for early-career chiropractic researchers to stimulate
more chiropractic research. US-based researchers are turning to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to combine
research talent and resources to advance
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Strong research continues at chiropractic universities to record the
benefits of chiropractic for musculoskeletal-related pain like back pain, neck
pain, arm pain and leg pain.
CONTACT Apple Country Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Ram Gudavalli, PhD, principal investigator of many Cox® Technic research
studies, on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes research studies of which he’s been a
part.
Make your next Williamson
chiropractic appointment today. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Apple Country Chiropractic is always
ready to share research!