Chiropractic And Back Pain Relief

The past 12 months have been good - very good - for the chiropractic profession in terms of data supporting the efficacy of chiropractic care.

For starters, consider the Wellmark pilot study that suggests chiropractic reduces both costs and need for surgery;¹ the Milliman USA analysis that concludes, "[S]pinal patients who seek chiropractic coverage have materially lower health care costs than those who do not";² the Consumer Reports reader survey that found "hands-on" therapies, led by chiropractic care, were the top-rated treatments for back pain sufferers, with chiropractic receiving the highest satisfaction-with-care ratings (significantly higher than MDs);³ the "Mercer Report" that suggests chiropractic compares favorably to most therapies covered by health benefit plans and is "likely to achieve equal or better health outcomes";⁴ and the final report on the Medicare demonstration project, which notes that 87 percent of patients surveyed gave their DC a satisfaction score of 8 or higher and 56 percent gave a perfect 10.⁵

The latest thumbs-up comes courtesy of a survey analysis published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.⁶ The analysis, based on data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, revealed that 60 percent of U.S. adults utilizing CAM therapies for back pain reported "a great deal" of benefit. Chiropractic was used most frequently (74 percent of respondents) and had the highest success rate