Researchers found certain predictors of visit frequency in a large sample of patients with chronic low-back pain (CLBP) and chronic neck pain (CNP) in the US. From a large national sample of chiropractic patients in the US with non-specific CLBP and CNP (852 patients with CLBP and 705 with CNP), they observed average visit frequency of 2.3 chiropractic visits per month.
Some of their findings:
- More visits were reported for patients with worse function or just starting care and fewer visits were reported for those near to ending care.
- Patients with higher visit frequency were reported for chiropractors who reported seeing more patients per day.
- Fewer visits per month were reported for the patients of chiropractors with 20 to 30 years of experience.
- The state in which care was received made a difference, likely through state-level policies and regulations.
- More insurance coverage for chiropractic care showed increased visit frequency for CLBP, but not CNP.
Herman, P. M., Edgington, S. E., Hurwitz, E. L., & Coulter, I. D. (2020). Predictors of visit frequency for patients using ongoing chiropractic care for chronic low back and chronic neck pain; analysis of observational data. BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 21(1), 298. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-020-03330-1
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