Characterization of Health Status and Modifiable Risk Behavior of Individuals Across the United States Using Chiropractic Care as Compared to General Medical Care.

Introduction: The actual causes of death in the United States have drifted from infectious through chronic diseases to modifiable behavioral risk factors. Simultaneously, there has been a paradigm shift in health care provision with increased emphases on prevention and health promotion/education campaign. Particularly, usage of professional complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) such as chiropractic care has increased substantially. This study characterizes typical conditions of chiropractic patients and explores how chiropractic influences modifiable behavioral risk factors in the United States. Methods: The study used data from the Sample Adult Core component of the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Logistic regression, chi-square, and t-test were used to explore association between variables. All statistical analyses were performed with SAS 9.1.2. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Parker College of Chiropractic and University of North Texas Health Science Center. Results: There were 31,428 respondents. Males comprised 43.79%. The percentage of those who saw/talked to chiropractors (DCs) within the past 12 months was 8.73% (n = 2705). Among these, 21.37% (n = 578) did not see the general medical doctor (MD). There was no significant difference in the smoking and alcohol consumption status of respondents who saw/talked to DCs than MDs. DC patients were more likely to be physically active [OR = 1.45 (1.20, 1.75)] and less likely to be obese [OR = 0,74 (0.59, 0.92)] than MD patients. Patients with acute migraine, neck, and low back pain were more likely to see DCs. but patients with arthritis and chronic conditions were more likely to see MDs. Conclusion: Americans are using chiropractic care for acute migraine, neck, and low back pain. DCs may be doing some health promotion and addressing modifiable risk factors with patients but this is not obvious from this data set. Questions dealing with prevention and health promotion are not well delineated within the NHIS2005 data set. Future research with health promotion-specific questions among CAM providers is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]