Changes in female veterans' neck pain following chiropractic care at a hospital for veterans

Kelsey L Corcoran; Andrew S Dunn; Bart N Green; Lance R Formolo; Gregory P Beehler

doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.12.013

Changes in female veterans' neck pain following chiropractic care at a hospital for veterans

Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2018 Feb:30:91-95. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.12.013. Epub 2017 Dec 13.

Authors

Kelsey L Corcoran¹, Andrew S Dunn², Bart N Green³, Lance R Formolo², Gregory P Beehler⁴

Affiliations

¹ Chiropractic Department, Medical Care Line, VA Western New York, 3495 Bailey Ave, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA; Yale University, Yale Center for Medical Informatics, 300 George St, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Chiropractic Department, VA Connecticut, 950 Campbell Ave, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Clinical Sciences, New York Chiropractic College, 2360 New York 89, Seneca Falls, NY 13148, USA. Electronic address: kelsey.corcoran@yale.edu.
² Chiropractic Department, Medical Care Line, VA Western New York, 3495 Bailey Ave, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA; Clinical Sciences, New York Chiropractic College, 2360 New York 89, Seneca Falls, NY 13148, USA.
³ Qualcomm Health Center, Stanford Heath Care, 10155 Pacific Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92121, USA; National University of Health Sciences, 200 E. Roosevelt Rd, Lombard, IL 60148, USA.
⁴ VA Center for Integrated Healthcare, VA Western New York, 3495 Bailey Ave, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA; School of Nursing, University at Buffalo, South Campus, 202 Beck Hall, 3435 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA; School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Kimball Tower, 401 Goodyear Rd, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA.

PMID: 29389486
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.12.013

Abstract

Objective: To determine if U.S. female veterans had demonstrable improvements in neck pain after chiropractic management at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of medical records from female veterans attending a VA chiropractic clinic for neck pain from 2009 to 2015. Paired t-tests were used to compare baseline and discharge numeric rating scale (NRS) and Neck Bournemouth Questionnaire (NBQ) scores with a minimum clinically important difference (MCID) set at a 30% change from baseline.

Results: Thirty-four veterans met the inclusion criteria and received a mean of 8.8 chiropractic treatments. For NRS, the mean score improvement was 2.7 (95%CI, 1.9-3.5, p < .001). For the NBQ, the mean score improvement was 13.7 (95%CI, 9.9-17.5, p < .001). For the MCID, the average percent improvement was 45% for the NRS and 38% for the NBQ.

Conclusion: Female veterans with neck pain experienced a statistically and clinically significant reduction in NRS and NBQ scores.

Keywords: Chiropractic; Neck pain; Veterans; Women.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Chiropractic
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Hospitals, Military
Humans
Manipulation, Chiropractic*
Middle Aged
Neck Pain / therapy*
Pain Measurement*
Retrospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans*