ECU convention 2017 research presentations
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MEETING ABSTRACTS
Open Access
ECU convention 2017 research presentations Limassol, Cyprus. 25-27 May 2017 Published: 6 December 2017
Oral research paper presentations O-01 Care seeking patterns during one year after visiting a chiropractor Alice Kongsted1,2, Lise Hestbaek1,2 1 Nordic Institute of Chiropractic and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark; 2Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark Correspondence: Alice Kongsted ([email protected]) Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2017, 25(Suppl 1):O-01 Background Low back pain (LBP) is a very frequent cause for care seeking and often a long-lasting condition. However, little is known about individuals’ care seeking patterns over time. Therefore the objectives of this study were 1) to describe care seeking patterns 1 year after an initial chiropractic consultation, and 2) to examine how care seeking patterns related to pain intensity trajectories. Methods Danish chiropractic clinics recruited 947 adult patients at the initial consultation for LBP. From this cohort, 617 (65%) responded to questions about care seeking within the last 2 weeks at all of the followups 2 weeks, 3 months and 12 months after inclusion. Based on these responses, we described care seeking patterns and investigated if care seeking was associated with trajectories of LBP severity. The LBP trajectories had previously been derived from weekly measures of pain intensity collected via SMS-tracking. Results Care seeking after the initial visit was reported by 95% of the patients. The most frequent care seeking pattern (51%) was to report care seeking at the 2-weeks follow-up and not later, 29% reported care seeking only 2 weeks and 3 months after the initial consultation, and 11% reported care seeking at all follow-up time points. Of those seeking care after 2 weeks, 3 months and 1 year, 98%, 76% and 50% respectively had chosen to see a chiropractor at those time points. At 1-year followup 18% of care seekers had visited a general practitioner and 27% a physiotherapist. Care seeking was associated with LBP trajectories: Most people who recovered from pain stopped care seeking, and those with persistent severe pain did most frequently seek care at all follow-ups. However, those with mild to moderate LBP had more diverse care seeking behaviours. For example in LBP trajectories of on-going moderate pain, 25% did not report care seeking after 2-weeks, and another 25% reported care seeking at all time points. Conclusions Most patients consulting Danish chiropractors for LBP are seen again within two weeks of the initial consultation and do not report continued care seeking after 3 months. One year after the initial visit, around half of the care seekers see other health care providers for their LBP instead of a chiropractor. Care seeking is related to LBP symptoms, but not in a uniform way, and it should be investigated
why some people with on-going LBP continue to seek care while others do not.
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