INDEPENDENT WORLDWIDE STUDIES CONFIRM CHIROPRACTIC'S EFFICIENCY & COST EFFECTIVENESS

Numerous studies have been conducted throughout the world on the efficiency and cost effectiveness of chiropractic care. The most current research was conducted by non-chiropractic professionals to provide more objectivity. In contrast, commonly prescribed medical procedures for treating back ailments are rarely the topic of large scale scientific studies to test their efficiency and cost effectiveness.

STANO/MEDSTAT RESEARCH

Miron Stano, Ph.D., Oakland University conducted a study comparing the health care costs for chiropractic and medical patients. The database he used came from the records of MEDSTAT Systems, Inc., a health benefits management consulting firm which processes insurance claims for clients that include many of the US's largest corporations. The database was comprised of 395,641 patients.

After Reviewing claims paid over a two year period, he concluded:

Patients that receive chiropractic care, either solely or in conjunction with medical care, experienced "significantly lower health care costs ... on the order of $1,000 each over the 2 year period" than those who received only medical care. Specifically, total insurance payments were $1,138 (30%) higher for those who elected medical care only.

The lower costs for chiropractic patients were attributable both to lower inpatient & outpatient costs and indicated that "chiropractic treatment substitutes for other forms of outpatient care."

THE MANGA REPORT

The Manga Report, commissioned by the Ministry of Health in Ontario and carried out by leading independent health economists at the University of Ottawa, led by Pran Manga, Ph.D., reviewed all of the international evidence on the management of low back pain. It concluded:

	There would he highly significant cost savings if more management of low-back pain was transferred from physicians to chiropractors.
	There should be a "shift in policy to encourage and prefer chiropractic services for most patients with low-back pain," and chiropractic should be "fully insured (and) fully integrated" into the Ontario health care system.
	"The overwhelming body of evidence" shows that chiropractic management of low-back pain is more cost effective than medical management, and that "many medical therapies are of questionable validity or are clearly inadequate..."
	"Chiropractic manipulation is safer than medical management of low-back pain."
	Chiropractic management is greatly superior to medical management in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost effectiveness, and patient satisfaction."

THE RAND STUDY

This project aims to provide a comprehensive set of indications for performing spinal manipulation for persons with low back pain. The project, which will require millions of dollars and several years to complete, is being conducted by the RAND corporation, a nonprofit private corporation in Santa Monica, California, which conducts research and development for both the US government and the private sector and commands international respect.

The project is being directed by two medical doctors, Robert Brook, MD, and Paul Shekelle, MD, and involves two expert panels of clinicians and researchers to assess the clinical consensus on the appropriateness of spinal manipulation for more than 1,600 patients with back pain conditions.

Initial results of the study include:

Acute and sub-acute mechanical back pain patients given spinal manipulation achieve better early results than patients given common medical treatments (bed rest, medication, traction, corsets).
50% of the patients treated by manipulation were free of pain after one week, compared to 27% treated with bed-rest.
Manipulation proved better for pain relief than the use of physiotherapy and analgesics.
Pain was relieved by manipulation in a shorter time (3.5 treatments) than by exercise (5.8 treatments).
Patients with pain of 2 to 3 weeks duration achieved a 50% reduction in pain more rapidly with manipulation than with mobilization.
Patients treated by manipulation improved significantly faster than those treated with medicine.
Manipulation provides earlier relief than other treatments or no treatment.

BRITISH MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STUDY

The British Medical Research Council conducted a 10 year, multi-center trial comparing chiropractic and hospital outpatient management of 741 patients with acute and chronic mechanical low-back pain. Results of the study were reported in the June 2, 1990 issue of The British Medical Journal, and include:

	Chiropractic treatment was significantly more effective, particularly for patients with chronic and severe pain.
	Results were long-term - "the benefit of chiropractic treatment became more evident throughout the follow-up period of two years.
	The superior results for chiropractic patients were not result of trial errors or placebo.
	"The potential economic, resource, and policy implications of our results are extensive. Consideration should be given...to providing chiropractic within the National Health Service, either in hospitals, or by purchasing chiropractic treatment from existing clinics."
	An economic analysis, which appears conservative and uses patient numbers reported in 1979, shows savings in excess of 10 million pounds per annum in Britain by having hospital outpatients with back pain treated by chiropractors.
	The study provides very considerable support of the New Zealand Commission's findings.

Dr. William D. Aukerman, Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist

424 Frye Farm Road Greensburg PA 15601 Phone 724-537-2600 Fax 724-537-6530