Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Chiropractic Reduces Overall Health Costs"

This article was written in conjunction with two studies that appeared in the journal; Archives of Internal Medicine. What the study's authors wanted to find out was the impact that Chiropractic has on the overall health care system. It appears that Chiropractic may be the best option compared to traditional medical care for back pain!

Researcher Dr Antonio P Legorreta (University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health) and his colleagues reviewed the health expenditure records of nearly 2 million people with health care plans. The comparison they wanted to study further was simple, " what was the difference between people who's plans included Chiropractic care to those who didn't?"

(NOTE: Dr. Legorreta's group compiled the data from nearly 2 million policy holders. That is a staggering number to study and helps to strengthen the findings of the article) 

This study "offers a tantalizing glimpse into possible large-scale economic benefits obtained through access to chiropractic coverage by large groups of insured patients," comments an accompanying editorial [ 2 ]. Drs Jose Ness and Nicole Nisly (University of Iowa, Iowa City). The researchers poured over four years of health care records and found that the 700,000 health plan members who had access to Chiropractic care, had lower overall health care costs compared to the 1 million members who didn't. In addition, the people who had Chiropractic coverage also had lower costs associated with; X-rays, MRI's, hospitalizations and surgeries.

The numbers break down like this;

Utilization per 1000 episodes	Patients with chiropractic coverage	Patients without chiropractic coverage
Plain radiographs	17.5	22.7
Low back surgery	3.3	4.8
Hospitalizations	9.3	15.6
Magnetic resonance imaging	43.2	68.9

Access to managed chiropractic care may reduce overall healthcare expenditure in several ways, say Legorreta et al. For example, there seems to be a substitution of Chiropractic for traditional medical care, particularly for spinal conditions, and Chiropractic appears to have lower costs than traditional medical care, they note. "The estimated cost saving appears to more than offset the amount spent to cover the associated costs of the Chiropractic benefit," they observe.
In their editorial, Ness and Nisly say the new study: "raises the intriguing possibility that Chiropractic may in fact be the more economic approach to the management of the ill-defined, recurrent, and often refractory symptom of back pain."
"One of the study's greatest strengths clearly lies in the sheer magnitude of the sample investigated, resulting, to our knowledge, in one of the largest analyses ever performed on economic impact of chiropractic," they add.
I think this is a clear indication that Chiropractic has very beneficial effects not only to the health of patients but the overall health system as well. However it is important to note that while this study was large in scope it may not have been very specific. In other words it did not give an indication as to what groups or types of patients could benefit most from Chiropractic.

None the less, this is obviously a very good starting point and helps to answer the question, ".....can Chiropractic help?"

In the East Vancouver neighborhood of Commercial Drive? Stop by or visit the website;COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!

1. Legorreta AP, Metz RD, Nelson CF, et al. Comparative analysis of individuals with and without chiropractic coverage. Arch Intern Med 2004; 164:1985-1992.
2. Ness J and Nisly N. Cracking the problem of back pain: is chiropractic the answer? Arch Intern Med 2004; 164:1953-1954.