Abstract

Improvements in quality of life of patients under chiropractic care in a practice-based research network.

Joel Alcantara, DC, Andrew Whetten, MS, Jeanne Ohm, DC, and Joey Alcantara

Objective: To determine changes in patients’ global physical health (GPH) and global mental health (GMH) following a course of chiropractic care.

Methods: In addition to socio-demographic data and clinical covariates (i.e., motivation for care), baseline and comparative GPH and GMH were measured using the PROMIS global health survey. Statistical analysis utilized a bootstrap paired t-test with a linear mixed model approach with practitioner as random blocking factor to examine the effects of a number of covariates.

Results: A convenience sample of 1419 responders (1060 females; mean age =40.96 years) comprised our study population. The mean number of visits between measures was 4.15 (SD=4.24). Baseline/comparative scores were: GPH (49.52/50.73) and GMH: 50/52.41. The observed mean for the GPH bootstrap sample had a difference of 1.117 (95% CI:0.88, 1.405) with p=0.0071. The observed mean for the GMH bootstrap sample had a difference of 1.453 (95% CI: 1.122, 1.751) with p=0.0128. Increases in GPH and GMH were statistically significant. We found minimal evidence (p>0.05) that covariates (i.e., age, gender, educational level and motivation for care) played a role in the observed improvement in QoL.
Conclusion: The quality of life of patients improved with a course of chiropractic care.

• Highlights of Study
  Patients under chiropractic care improve in their quality of life as measured by the PROMIS Global Health survey. Both Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health were determined to increase beyond chance
• The important co-variates to changing patients’ Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health were:
  
  • Age – the older a patient, the greater the increase in their quality of life with care
  • Level of Education – highly educated patients have greater likelihood of increase in their quality of life with care
  • # Visits at Baseline: Overall, increasing number of visits results in increasing improvements in global physical and mental health
  • Baseline GPH & GMH: Overall, patients presenting with low global physical and mental health are more likely to have greater increases in these quality of life with care

Presented at ACC-RAC 2019: Baltimore, MD 14-16, 2019