Current insights:
The Non-Opioid Pain Effort
What does the research say about Chiropractic Care and Back Pain?
4. More than 2.6 million Emergency Department visits are for low back pain “LBP” in the US annually, and untimely and improper follow up can lead to chronic pain. “Low back pain related disorders caused 2.63 million (95%CI: 2.32, 2.93 million) annual ED visits in the US.“
Source: NCBI
2. With drug overdose deaths on the rise in the United States, this study from The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine aims to look at whether utilizing chiropractic care can help lower the prescription rates of opioids for LBP. Among those who utilized chiropractic care, there was a 55% reduction in filling a prescription for opioid analgesics compared to those who did not receive any chiropractic care.
Source: The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
3. Based on a previous population study, opioids were found to be the most common prescription drug given to adults with LBP in the US. In this specific study from the Journal of Pain, 36.9% of the participants were found to be taking one or more prescription pain medications in the last 30 days, with the most common being opioids. Of those participants with chronic LBP who are taking opioids, 76.9% of them reported taking opioids for one year or more.
Source: The Journal of Pain
4. Adverse drug events caused by opioid use is exponentially on the rise in the US. When evaluating chiropractic care as a nonpharmacologic treatment for LBP, the risk of an ADE was notably lower among those who utilized chiropractic care (51%) when compared to those who did not. This study found in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics shows a correlation between the utilization of chiropractic care and a reduction in the risk for an ADE.
Source: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
5. With healthcare costs rising and the rate of disability from neck pain increasing by 29% in the US over the past 2 decades, this study in The Spine Journal aims to determine the cost-effectiveness of SMT compared to other rehabilitative methods. Recent RCTs found that SMT in conjuncture with home exercise and advice (HEA) are generally well tolerated by older adults (> 65) with neck pain and resulted in reduced symptoms. It was found after this study was conducted that SMT with HEA resulted in overall better clinical outcomes and lower total societal costs when compared to exercises alone.
Source: The Spine Journal
6. With annual expenditures for MD, DC, and PT care combined being estimated anywhere from $84.1 billion to $624.8 billion for low back problems in the US, the objective of this JMPT study was to compare utilization and charges for the above mentioned professions to determine the most cost effective management for LBP. While all 3 professions saw an increase in patient visits over the past decade, chiropractic was the only profession that did not see a parallel increase in cost per patient visit. This study showed that DC care or MD-DC care incurred fewer total charges per patient for patients with LBP.
Source: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics