Document Type : Original Articles
Authors
- Behdokht Aleali
- Mohammad Hossein Sharifi
- yasaman vazani
- Hossein Molavi Vardanjani
- Saeed Keshavarz
- Malihe Sousani
- Alireza Salehi
Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Background
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent diseases in developed and developing countries and imposes a high socioeconomic burden on both individuals and communities. To date, few studies have explored the clinically significant impact of the chiropractic modality on chronic LBP.
Given the high prevalence of LBP in communities and limited effects of current therapeutic methods on chronic LBP, studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of chiropractic approaches.
Methods
The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on patients who were referred to private chiropractic clinics in Shiraz, Iran with more than three months of chronic LBP and had no pathological abnormalities, except for the lumbosacral spine. The data were collected in two stages: the first visit and eight weeks after treatment. The effect of the intervention was measured via three questionnaires: the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and the self-assessment Global Rating of Change (GRC).
Results
In total, 141 patients with a mean age of 40.18 ± 10.42 years were analyzed. Among the patients, 40 (28.4%) were male. The mean differences in the pain disability and pain intensity before and after the intervention were statistically significant (p<0.001). The mean ± SD of the GRC was 56.13 ± 33.03%. It was not different in patients with mild, moderate, and even severe Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings.
Conclusion
Overall, complementary chiropractic treatment may be an appropriate adjuvant to conventional treatments to improve disability and reduce pain intensity among patients with chronic LBP.
Keywords
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