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One-Third of Back Pain Sufferers Seek DCs Over MDs

Dynamic Chiropractic Staff

A recent issue of "Research Activities" published by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) gave this summary of two studies the Agency funded:

"Back pain episodes of care among adults in the United States are usually brief and recur infrequently (within 3 to 5 years). One-third of all patients suffering from back pain choose chiropractors over physicians to treat them, and chiropractors provide 40 percent of primary care for back pain. These are the results of two studies supported in part by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (HS06920).

"About 10 percent of patients initially seeing other providers switched to a chiropractor to receive the majority of their back pain care. Moreover, chiropractors retained a greater proportion (92 percent) of their patients for subsequent episodes of back pain care than did other providers. This coincides with other findings that low back pain patients of chiropractors are more satisfied with their care than those of other providers."

It's not just what is said, but who says it.

------------------------ "One-third of back pain sufferers seek care from chiropractors instead of physicians", Research Activities, No. 189, November/December 1995

April 1997
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