Recorded presentation

Michael T. Haneline, DC, MPH, Department of Research, Palmer College of Chiropractic West, 90 E. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134, 408-944-6190, michael.haneline@palmer.edu

This study comprised a two-part survey concerning patients who were seen by practicing doctors of chiropractic (DCs) for an episode of acute neck pain. The first part of the questionnaire was completed by seven practicing DCs who answered a series of 14 questions about their treatment of acute neck pain patients. The information was derived from existing records of patients who had been treated one year previously. The corresponding chiropractic patients were administered a 14-question telephone survey regarding their treatment experience.

The patient group consisted of 60 females (63%) and 35 males (37%), with a mean age of 39.3 years (SD = 16). The total number of visits provided to each patient ranged from 1 to 117, with the mean number of visits being 24.3 (SD = 21.16). Mean visits varied among DCs ranging from 5.5 (SD = 3.7) to 41.6 (SD = 25.0). Injury-related patients received a mean 34.7 (SD = 21.1) visits, compared with 10.1 (SD = 10.1) for those who were not injured. Furthermore, those who were injured in motor vehicle crashes received a mean 46 (SD = 19.12) visits. Conversely, total visits for patients with higher initial pain levels and those with a history of neck pain approximated the overall mean.

In conclusion, there was wide divergence in the number of chiropractic visits provided to acute neck pain patients in this study. However, this observation was based on a small convenience sample that may not be representative of the involved population. Consequently, this issue should be investigated further to determine optimal chiropractic visit parameters.

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