Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research solidifies
the role of healthcare’s relief of pain. For
chiropractic healthcare, much research entails documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal conditions like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center delivers just such research-documented, effective care to our
Pensacola chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
One set 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 job for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Vexingly, back pain disability levels have not
increased despite an increased quantity of
published research papers regarding back pain care.
No consensus on the best way to manage low back pain
has been agreed upon. Non-drug and non-invasive approaches
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are general
recommendations. Other reviewing researchers pointed
to a few issues with back pain research: design
and analysis within the treatment clinical trials. (1) Designing research
studies is tough. Designing a “sham”
protocol for spinal manipulation that seems like spinal
manipulation is really challenging. (Just touching a spine can
help some, but that’s a topic for a
different discussion!) Observational studies are the
next best thing. How so? Researchers observe how
patients respond when they experience treatment and report
on changes and effects. Fortunately, Cox®
Technic research has a mix of biomechanical and clinical
observational studies resulting in case reports, case series, plus
retrospective and prospective clinical studies. Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center feels this mix of
research support helps define to our Pensacola chiropractic patients
what clinical outcome relief they may anticipate.
MINIMAL CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Occasionally, chiropractic
physicians and low back pain patients alike find themselves 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 realize that 50% relief in less
than a month and that the 50% relief is more like
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
undergone 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 is not a huge move but is reasonable.
(2) It’s a statistic to share. Compared
with medical and surgical outcomes for back pain treatment that are as low
as 10% or 30% expected improvement MCID, our Pensacola chiropractic
clinical outcome targets 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 effort
in keeping research flowing as many
programs are not in large university settings
with well-established and well-financed research departments. Global
chiropractic researchers are seeking 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 promote
more chiropractic research. US-based researchers are turning to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to assemble
research talent and resources to advance
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Robust 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 Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center
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
explains research studies of which he’s been a
part.
Schedule your next Pensacola
chiropractic appointment now. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center is always
ready to share research!