Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research established
the role of healthcare’s pain relieving ability. In
chiropractic healthcare, much research entails documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal pain
issues like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Wilson Family Chiropractic delivers just such effective,
research-documented care to our
Millville chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
A set of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to develop long-term
plans to decrease the burden of low back pain
on sufferers and healthcare systems. They explained
that developing effective strategies remains a
huge job for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Vexingly, back pain disability levels have not
improved despite a larger number of
published research reports regarding back pain care.
No consensus on the optimal way to manage low back pain
has been agreed upon. Non-drug and non-invasive methods
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are typical
recommendations. Another group of reviewing researchers pointed
to a few problems with back pain research: design
and analysis within the treatment clinical trials. (1) Designing research
studies is difficult. Designing a “sham”
protocol for spinal manipulation that feels like spinal
manipulation is especially challenging. (Just touching a spine can
help some, but that is a topic for a
different discussion!) Observational studies are the
next best thing. How so? Researchers observe how
patients respond when they go
through treatment and describe changes and effects. Fortuitously, Cox®
Technic research has a blend of biomechanical and clinical
observational studies resulting in case reports, case series, plus
retrospective and prospective clinical studies. Wilson Family Chiropractic feels this mix of
research support helps explain to our Millville chiropractic patients
what clinical outcome relief they may anticipate.
MINIMAL CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Sometimes, chiropractic
physicians and low back pain patients alike are disappointed
with the outcomes of treatment for back pain. They should not
be! In medicine, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is reported 30% or 20% and even 10% improvement. That is reported as an “effective” outcome. Cox® Technic has proposed 50%
improvement in 30 days as the aim…and still does. Many
times, chiropractic patients realize that 50% relief in less
than a month and that the 50% relief is closer to
70% or 80% or 90%! Sometimes, a patient’s response may be slower in attaining
relief or only reaches 30% or 40%. Some patients desire more while
others, especially patients who have already
had back surgery or sought non-relieving care
from many other providers, are thrilled. A study
of 1232 low back pain subjects discovered a MCID pain intensity of
2 (meaning a 2 point move on a scale of 0 no pain to 10 worst
imaginable pain). That’s not a big move but is realistic.
(2) It is a statistic to share. Weighed against medical and surgical outcomes for back pain treatment that are as low
as 10% or 30% expected improvement MCID, our Millville chiropractic
clinical outcome objectives are high and often achieved.
THE CHALLENGE OF CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH – AND HOW CHIROPRACTIC
ANSWERS
Chiropractic, like other complementary and integrative
healthcare professions, has a little more difficulty
in maintaining a flow of research as many
programs are not incorporated into large university situations
with well-established and well-financed 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 promote
more chiropractic research. US-based researchers are turning to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to combine
research talent and assets to advance
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Solid research carries
on at chiropractic universities to document the
benefits of chiropractic for musculoskeletal-related pain like back pain, neck
pain, arm pain and leg pain.
CONTACT Wilson Family 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 Millville
chiropractic appointment today. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Wilson Family Chiropractic loves to share research!