Research Summary: The Association Between Use of Chiropractic Care and Costs of Care Among Older Medicare Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Multiple Comorbidities.

This article can be found at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26907615 (full text is not free)


​This study has only recently been published by the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics {Epub; yet to go to print}. The study was an observational, retrospective study (2006-2012) and looked at the healthcare costs of patients aged 66yrs or older with chronic low back pain who were deemed to have multiple comorbidities. The 4 subgroups looked at were: those who only received Chiropractic manipulative therapy, those who received Chiropractic manipulative therapy following or preceded by conventional medical care, or those who received conventional medical care alone.

​Overall the study found that older individuals with chronic low back pain (who received Medicare benefits) that had multiple comorbidities that used only Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy had lower overall costs of care, shorter episodes, and lower cost of care per episodes than patients in the other 3 groups.
​Patients that received a combination of Chiropractic Manipulative therapy and conventional medical care; had lower overall costs of care than those who only received conventional medical care.

​This study provides some support for the use of Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy in the treatment and management of older individuals with chronic low back pain with multiple comorbidities.



Weeks WB, Leininger B, Whedon JM, Lurie JD, Tosteson TD, Swenson R, O'Malley AJ, Goertz CM. “The Association Between Use of Chiropractic Care and Costs of Care Among Older Medicare Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Multiple Comorbidities.”. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. (2016); [Epub ahead of Print]. accessed 11/03/16 from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.01.006