Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher
Two years ago this month, a study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases concluded: "LBP causes more global disability than any other condition. With the ageing population, there is an urgent need for further research to better understand LBP across different settings."1 The authors estimated that at any time, low back pain has a point prevalence of 7.7 percent in the U.S. That works out to just under 2.5 million current sufferers – 35 patients per doctor of chiropractic.
A follow-up investigation recently published in JAMA Pediatrics focused on the burden of disease and injury among children and adolescents.2 This analysis grouped the leading causes of disability into 10 condition-based categories. For U.S. children and teens, here is the point prevalence per condition / category:
- Iron deficiency anemia – 15,992,132
- Skin diseases – 26,350,414
- Depressive disorders – 2,050,206
- Low back and neck pain – 3,241,876
- Conduct disorder – 1,375,879
- Sense organ diseases – 4,037,732
- Diarrheal diseases – 33,152
- Anxiety disorders – 3,987,614
- Migraine – 2,809,268
- Hemoglobinopathies – 18,102,976
Even if we only focus on the prevalence of low back and neck pain among children / teens, there are more than 3.2 million cases or 46 cases per U.S. chiropractor. This leads to the obvious question: What percentage of the children of your adult patients are you seeing on a regular basis?
As you look at the other nine categories on this list, you can easily see other ailments DCs can and should be addressing. To think almost 16 million children suffer from iron deficiency anemia is almost shocking. That's more than 20 percent of the child population in the U.S. Essentially, one of every five children in your community could be low on iron to the point of anemia.
Looking further at the data, the number of young migraine sufferers is almost as high as the number of back and neck pain sufferers. Combined, these two condition categories represent more than 5 million children. Again, that works out to about 71 children per U.S. doctor of chiropractic.
There are certainly more opportunities for chiropractic to play a role in reducing the diseases and injuries suffered by children and teens. Nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population is under the age of 19. There is no reason why you shouldn't be seeing a similar demographic mix in your office. Yes, back pain prevalence increases with age, but there is clear evidence a significant portion of our youth (approximately 4.3 percent) are suffering from back and neck pain at the very least.
Patterns are learned early in life and are generally hard to break. To leave our children to the dangers of NSAIDs and other OTC drugs to address their spinal pain is a mistake that could create a pattern of care lasting a lifetime. The time to reach our children is when they are young and their bodies are the most sensitive to the health chiropractic can provide. If we miss the opportunity when they are young, we may never get another chance.
Take the time to reach out to the parents who are already your patients (and talk to your young patients about their friends.) Discuss their children's nutrition, sports, video gaming and other concerns all parents have. You can use this latest study as a starting point for your conversation. The child you reach today will be a chiropractic patient enjoying the immeasurable benefits of wellness for decades to come.
References
- Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, et al. The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Ann Rheum Dis, 2014;73:968-974.
- Global and national burden of diseases and injuries among children and adolescents between 1990 and 2013. JAMA Pediatr, published online Jan. 25, 2016.
Read more findings on my blog: http://blog.toyourhealth.com/wrblog/. You can also visit me on Facebook.
