Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research established
the role of healthcare’s pain relieving ability. In
chiropractic healthcare, much research revolves around documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal pain
issues like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Pflugerville Wellness Center delivers just such research-documented, effective care to our
Pflugerville chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
A group of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to come up with long-term
plans to decrease the problem of low back pain
on patients and healthcare systems. They explained
that developing effective strategies remains a
huge job for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Frustratingly, back pain disability levels have not
improved despite a larger number 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 methods
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are general
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. Designing 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 article!) Observational studies are the next in line. How so? Researchers observe how
patients respond when they experience treatment and make note of 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. Pflugerville Wellness Center feels this mix of
research support helps outline the expectations our Pflugerville chiropractic
patients may expect.
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 aim…and still does. Often, chiropractic patients realize that 50% relief in less
than a month and that the 50% relief is closer to
70% or 80% or 90%! Sometimes, a patient’s response may be slower in attaining
relief or only reaches 30% or 40%. Some patients want more while
others, particularly patients who have already
had back surgery or sought non-relieving care
from many other providers, are thrilled. A study
of 1232 low back pain subjects discovered 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 huge move but is reasonable.
(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 Pflugerville chiropractic
clinical outcome goals 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 maintaining a flow of research as many
programs are not incorporated into large university settings
with well-established and well-funded research departments. Global
chiropractic researchers are looking for am amswer. Australia, Canada, and Denmark chiropractic
researchers have formed 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 pool
research talent and resources to advance
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Strong 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 Pflugerville Wellness 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 he’s managed.
Make your next Pflugerville
chiropractic appointment today. Bring your questions about the research
behind our chiropractic care with you! Pflugerville Wellness Center is always
ready to share research!