Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research solidifies
the role of healthcare’s pain relieving ability. In
chiropractic healthcare, much research entails documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal conditions like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Hollstrom & Associates Inc offers just such effective,
research-documented care to our
Largo chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
A group of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to create long-term
plans to decrease the problem of low back pain
on patients 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
improved despite an increased quantity of
published research papers about back pain care.
No consensus on the optimal way to manage low back pain
has been agreed upon. Non-drug and non-invasive approaches
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are typical
recommendations. Other reviewing researchers indicated a few problems 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 is a topic for another discussion!) Observational studies are the
next best thing. How so? Researchers observe what happens to patients when they experience treatment and note changes and effects. Fortunately, Cox®
Technic research has a mix of biomechanical and clinical
observational studies resulting in case reports, case series, as well as
retrospective and prospective clinical studies. Hollstrom & Associates Inc feels this mix of
research support helps explain to our Largo 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 shouldn’t
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 offered 50%
improvement in 30 days as the goal…and still does. Often, chiropractic patients realize 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 want more while
others, particularly patients who have previously
gone through back surgery or sought non-relieving care
from many other providers, are thrilled. A study
of 1232 low back pain subjects found 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’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 Largo 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, has a little more difficulty
in maintaining a flow of research as many
programs are not in large university settings
with well-established and well-funded research departments. Global
chiropractic researchers are looking for a solution. 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 looking to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to combine
research talent and resources to elevate
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Strong research carries
on at chiropractic universities to record the
benefits of chiropractic for musculoskeletal-related pain like back pain, neck
pain, arm pain and leg pain.
CONTACT Hollstrom & Associates Inc
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.
Schedule your next Largo
chiropractic appointment soon. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Hollstrom & Associates Inc is always
ready to share research!