Research

Chiropractic Treatment of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in the State of Texas

By Frank M. Painter|February 24, 2011|Cost-Effectiveness, Low Back Pain, Research|

Chiropractic Treatment of Workers’ Compensation Claimants in the State of Texas

SOURCE: MGT of America, Austin, Texas ~ February 2003

In 2002, the Texas Chiropractic Association (TCA) commissioned an independent study to determine the use and effectiveness of chiropractic with regard to workers’ compensation, the results of which were published in February 2003. According to the report, chiropractic care was associated with significantly lower costs and more rapid recovery in treating workers with low-back injuries.

They found:

Lower back and neck injuries accounted for 38 percent of all claims costs.

Chiropractors treated about 30 percent of workers with lower back injuries, but were responsible for only 17.5 percent of the medical costs and 9.1 percent of the total costs.

These findings were even more intertesting:

The average claim for a worker with a low-back injury was $15,884. However, if a worker received at least 75 percent of his or her care from a chiropractor, the total cost per claimant decreased by nearly one-fourth to $12,202.

If the chiropractor provided at least 90 percent of the care, the average cost declined by more than 50 percent, to $7,632.

Doctors of chiropractic have been licensed to practice in Texas since 1949 and have been a fundamental part of the state’s workers’ compensation system since 1953. Each year, Texas DCs treat tens of thousands of injured workers, but until recently, little data were available comparing the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of chiropractic versus other forms of care available through the workers’ compensation program.

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Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research Receives $7.4 million Military Readiness Grant

By Frank M. Painter|February 18, 2011|News, Research|

Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research Receives $7.4 million Military Readiness Grant

The Chiro.Org Blog

Scientists at the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR), the RAND Corporation and the Samueli Institute have been awarded a $7.4 million grant by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. The grant will fund a four-year research project to assess chiropractic treatment for military readiness in active duty personnel. This is the largest single award for a chiropractic research project in the history of the profession and will be used to conduct the largest clinical trial evaluating chiropractic to date.

Ian Coulter, Ph.D., the Samueli Institute Chair in Policy for Integrative Medicine at RAND Corporation, is the research project’s principal investigator. Co-principal investigator and Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Vice Chancellor for Research and Health Policy Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D., will oversee the design and implementation of the three clinical trials funded by this award. The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research will receive approximately $5.1 million in order to accomplish this task. Samueli Institute Vice President for Military Medical Research Joan Walter, J.D., also is a co-principal investigator for this project. (more…)

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Chiropractic Management of Migraine Headache

By Frank M. Painter|February 16, 2011|Headache, Research|

Chiropractic Management of Migraine Headache

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: ChiroACCESS

Just as puzzles are completed piece by piece, the evidence for the positive effects of chiropractic care for migraines is slowly filling in and revealing a clearer picture. That picture depicts a more meaningful role for chiropractic care in both the prevention and treatment of migraine headache. A recent Norwegian systematic review of manual therapies for migraine prevention (4 Feb 2011) concluded that chiropractic spinal manipulation and some other conservative interventions appear to be equal to medications (propranolol & topiramate) in their ability to prevent migraines. (more…)

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New Study Ties Processed Foods To ADHD in 78% of Children

By Frank M. Painter|February 10, 2011|ADHD, Attention Deficit, Education, Food Sensitivity, Pediatrics, Processed Foods, Research, Supplementation|

New Study Ties Processed Foods To ADHD in 78% of Children

The Chiro.Org Blog

According to a new study, just published in Lancet Journal, a diet free of processed foods significantly reduces the symptoms of ADHD in 78% of 4-8 year old children. This 5-week study involving 100 subjects found that 63% of them experienced a relapse in ADHD symptoms upon re-introduction of problem foods into the diet.

This randomized crossover study was titled Effects of a Restricted Elimination Diet on the Behaviour of Children With Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (INCA study). Patients in the Netherlands and Belgium were enrolled via announcements in medical health centres and through media announcements. In the open-label phase (or first phase), children aged 4—8 years, who were diagnosed with ADHD, were randomly assigned to either 5 weeks of a restricted elimination diet (diet group) or to instructions for a healthy diet (control group). [1]

In the second phase, those children who responded positively (with an improvement of at least 40% on the ADHD rating scale) proceeded into the second phase, with a 4-week double-blind crossover food challenge, in which they were exposed to either a high-IgG or low-IgG food diet (classified on the basis of every child’s individual IgG blood test results).
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Chiropractic Care Plans for Common Low Back Conditions

By Frank M. Painter|February 3, 2011|Care Plans, Evidence-based Medicine, Low Back Pain, Research|

Chiropractic Care Plans for Common Low Back Conditions

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Chiropractic Technique 1993 (Aug); 5 (3): 119-125

by Robert D. Mootz, D.C. and V. Thomas Waldorf, D.C.

Our thanks to Robert D. Mootz, D.C. and to Dana Lawrence, D.C., the editor of Chiropractic Technique, for permission to reprint this FULL-TEXT article article, and its extensive collection of Care Plans, exclusively at Chiro.Org

A detailed description of chiropractic care parameters used at a large occupational medicine center is presented. The algorithms were derived from clinical needs of the facility, expert opinion, and reviews of several contemporary written protocols. Twelve of the most common industrially related low back conditions are included. The algorithms are grouped according to nondiscogenic and discogenic conditions. The guidelines are consistent with many third party chiropractic review policies, as well as the recently published Chiropractic Quality Assurance Guidelines and Practice Parameters. The first algorithm is based on uncomplicated joint dysfunction, and is considered the base algorithm. Other, more complicated conditions follow, and a preface is included for each describing specific issues relevant to each condition. The purpose of these algorithms was to help standardize care in the clinic, to foster interdisciplinary communication, and to provide consistency in administration for research purposes.

Occupational Low back injuries make up a major component of industrial expenditures in the United States. [1] A number of retrospective studies have suggested that conservative chiropractic management may be more cost effective than other approaches. [2-3] Although a number of general practice guidelines have been developed [4-6], none have (yet) provided “condition specific” guidelines. (more…)

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Anatomical Connection Found Between the Rectus Capitis Posterior Major and the Dura Mater

By Frank M. Painter|February 2, 2011|News, Research|

Anatomical Connection Found Between the Rectus Capitis Posterior Major and the Dura Mater

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 (Mar 15); 37 (6): 530

Scali F, Marsili ES, Pontell ME.

School of Medicine,
St. George’s University,
Grenada, West Indies

A new study, just published in Spine Journal, reports on an investigation of the muscles of the suboccipital triangle and their relationship to cervicogenic headaches.

During the anatomic study of thirteen cadaver specimens, it was discovered that eleven of the 13 specimens had a connection between the rectus capitis posterior major muscle (at C2) and the spinal dura mater. [1]

A previous report by Hack (Spine 1995) [2] discussed a connection found between the rectus capitis posterior minor and the dura mater and its relationship to cervicogenic headache. (more…)

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