Patients going to chiropractic care as a medicare recipient motivated a higher satisfaction.
They also had protective effects on functional life activities at one year
SUMMARY BY ME: 12170 people were followed for 10 years. They found that chiropractic care on the Medicare population had a protective effect against 1 year declines in functional and self rated health for spine conditions. Users of chiropractic indicated higher satisfaction with follow-up care and information provided about what is wrong with them.
[Tweet “#medicare #chiropractic clients better #function and #satisfied at 1 year”]Abstract
Objective
The purpose of this study was to examine how chiropractic care compares to medical treatments on 1-year changes in self-reported function, health, and satisfaction with care measures in a representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries.
Methods
Logistic regression using generalized estimating equations is used to model the effect of chiropractic relative to medical care on decline in 5 functional measures and 2 measures of self-rated health among 12170 person-year observations. The same method is used to estimate the comparative effect of chiropractic on 6 satisfaction with care measures. Two analytic approaches are used, the first assuming no selection bias and the second using propensity score analyses to adjust for selection effects in the outcome models.
Results
The unadjusted models show that chiropractic is significantly protective against 1-year decline in activities of daily living, lifting, stooping, walking, self-rated health, and worsening health after 1 year. Persons using chiropractic are more satisfied with their follow-up care and with the information provided to them. In addition to the protective effects of chiropractic in the unadjusted model, the propensity score results indicate a significant protective effect of chiropractic against decline in reaching.
Conclusion
This study provides evidence of a protective effect of chiropractic care against 1-year declines in functional and self-rated health among Medicare beneficiaries with spine conditions, and indications that chiropractic users have higher satisfaction with follow-up care and information provided about what is wrong with them.
J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2014 Oct;37(8):542-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.08.003. Epub 2014 Sep 16.
Chiropractic use in the medicare population: prevalence, patterns, and associations with 1-year changes in health and satisfaction with care.
Weigel PA1, Hockenberry JM2, Wolinsky FD3.
http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(14)00144-4/fulltext
