Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research solidifies
the role of healthcare’s pain relieving ability. For
chiropractic healthcare, much research entails documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal conditions like back pain, neck pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Chiropractic Solutions offers just such research-documented, effective care to our
San Jose chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
A group of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to develop long-term
plans to decrease the problem of low back pain
on sufferers and healthcare systems. They described
that developing effective strategies remains a
daunting task for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Vexingly, back pain disability levels have not
increased despite a larger number of
published research papers about back pain care.
No consensus on the best way to handle 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 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 feels like spinal
manipulation is especially challenging. (Just touching a spine can
be relieving some, but that is a topic for another article!) Observational studies are the
next best thing. How so? Researchers observe what happens to patients when they undergo 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. Chiropractic Solutions feels this mix of
research support helps define to our San Jose chiropractic patients
what clinical outcome relief they may anticipate.
MINIMAL CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Sometimes, chiropractic
physicians and low back pain patients alike are frustrated
with the outcomes of treatment for back pain. They shouldn’t
be! In medicine, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is defined
as 30% or 20% and even 10% improvement. That is reported as an “effective” outcome. Cox® Technic has offered 50%
improvement in 30 days as the goal…and still does. Many
times, chiropractic patients find that 50% relief in less
than 30 days and that the 50% relief is closer to
70% or 80% or 90%! Sometimes, a patient’s response may be slower in getting
relief or only reaches 30% or 40%. Some patients want more while
others, particularly 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 discovered a MCID pain intensity of
2 (meaning a 2 point change on a scale of 0 no pain to 10 worst
imaginable pain). That’s not a huge move but is realistic.
(2) It’s a statistic to consider. Compared
with medical and surgical outcomes for back pain treatment that are as low
as 10% or 30% expected improvement MCID, our San Jose chiropractic
clinical outcome targets are high and frequently
achievable.
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-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 promote
more chiropractic research. US-based researchers are looking to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to assemble
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 Chiropractic Solutions
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 San Jose
chiropractic appointment today. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Chiropractic Solutions is always
ready to share research!