Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108614

Richard Branson, DC, Institute for Athletic Medicine, Fairview Health Systems, 1440 Duckwood Drive, Eagan, MN 55122, 651-688-7857, rbranso1@fairview.org and Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, Samueli Institute for Informational Biology, 1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Objective: To determine pre/post treatment changes in low back and neck pain patients receiving chiropractic care within a large insurance provider network. Background Data: The lifetime prevalence of neck pain and low back pain is reported at 67% and 85% respectively. Eighty-six percent of chiropractic patients are treated for spinal problems. Although there is a growing cadre of small randomized clinical trials looking at the effectiveness of chiropractic care for low back pain and neck pain, little outcomes research has been conducted evaluating the outcomes of chiropractic care in the clinical practice setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in pain and disability during a regime on chiropractic care for both neck pain and low back pain, using the Oswestry disability index, neck disability index and the 11-point ordinal pain scale Methods: A total of 24,880 low back and 18,966 neck functional outcome matched pre-post data sets were collected by a large chiropractic insurance provider network over a four year period, starting in 2000. Providers submitted pain and functional outcome data gathered at both the initial and final visit. The Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD) process and appropriate statistical techniques will be used to perform the analysis of this data set. Results/Conclusions: Baseline characteristics of the patient population, along with average changes in pain and disability for both neck and low back pain patients will be presented. Subgroup analysis to determine if demographic characteristics or individual providers can predict outcomes will also be conducted.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this section the participant will be able to

• Describe a method of outcomes measurement processes to better document the potential value a chiropractic provider network brings to patients and purchasers of these services.
• Create an understanding of current practice outcomes collection and measurement in a large chiropractic provider network.
• Recognize the use of clinical outcomes creates a better understanding of chiropractic care.

Keywords: Chiropractic, Outcome Measures

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation