US Public Favours Chiropractors
By Simon French

A recently published telephone survey conducted in the US revealed that a high proportion of people with back and neck pain seek complementary care. The survey was conducted with random digit dialling in late 1997 and early 1998. The survey questioned respondents about general medical conditions and specifically about back or neck pain.

The investigators found that of those respondents reporting back or neck pain, 37% had seen a medical practitioner and 54% had used complementary therapies to treat their condition. Of all those respondents with back or neck pain, 29% had used complementary therapy alone, 25% had used both complementary therapies and had consulted a medical practitioner and 34% had used neither to treat their condition. Chiropractic, massage and relaxation techniques were the most commonly used treatments (20%, 14% and 12% respectively), and osteopathy was used by 0.3% of patients.

The investigators also sought information on the satisfaction of the patients who sought treatment. In general, physical-based methods were most frequently perceived as very helpful. Of those that saw a chiropractor, 61% reported that the chiropractor was ‘very helpful’, whereas medical practitioners were rated as ‘very helpful’ by only 27% of users. It is important to note that observational studies such as this cannot be used to assess hypotheses regarding relative effectiveness of different therapies.

Other complementary therapies that were utilised included yoga, acupuncture, homeopathy, spiritual healing and hypnosis.

The authors concluded that more than 200 million visits were made to complementary providers specifically for the treatment of back or neck pain in 1997 in the U.S., with more than 88 million of these visits being made to chiropractors.

Source:
Wolsko PM, Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Kessler R, Phillips RS. Patterns and perceptions of care for treatment of back and neck pain: results of a national survey. Spine 2003;28(3):292-298.