Table 1.
Outcomes and patient characteristics predictors by type of chronic pain, Mean (SD) unless otherwise noted
| Label | CLBP (N = 451) | CLBP & CNP (N = 911) | CNP (N = 303) | Totals (N =1665) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Rating of Low Back Pain (0–10)** | 3.3 (1.9) | 3.6 (2.1) | 3.5 (2.0) | |
| Rating of Neck Pain (0–10) | 3.8 (2.2) | 3.5 (2.1) | 3.7 (2.1) | |
| Oswestry Disability Index Score (0–100) | 18.5 (11.8) | 19.8 (12.5) | 19.4 (12.3) | |
| Neck Disability Index Score (0–100) | 21.8 (13.2) | 20.7 (10.9) | 21.5 (12.7) | |
| # Chiropractic visits over 3 months* | 5.5 (6.1) | 5.7 (5.7) | 6.3 (5.9) | 6.0 (5.9) |
| Chiropractic visit frequency (categorized)** | ||||
| Monthly and less than monthly | 190 (42.1%) | 295 (32.4%) | 107 (35.3%) | 592 (35.6%) |
| Biweekly up to monthly | 100 (22.2%) | 251 (27.6%) | 82 (27.1%) | 433 (26.0%) |
| Weekly up to biweekly | 84 (18.6%) | 217 (23.8%) | 62 (20.5%) | 363 (21.8%) |
| More than weekly | 48 (10.6%) | 114 (12.5%) | 31 (10.2%) | 193 (11.6%) |
| Unknown | 29 (6.4%) | 34 (3.7%) | 21 (6.9%) | 84 (5.0%) |
| # Non-chiropractic complementary therapy (CT) visits over 3 months | 1.8 (4.7) | 2.2 (4.2) | 2.2 (4.8) | 2.1 (4.7) |
| Other CT visit frequency (categorized)** | ||||
| None | 269 (59.6%) | 148 (48.8%) | 481 (52.8%) | 898 (53.9%) |
| Monthly and less than monthly | 80 (17.7%) | 74 (24.4%) | 209 (22.9%) | 363 (21.8%) |
| Biweekly up to monthly | 36 (8.0%) | 24 (7.9%) | 89 (9.8%) | 149 (8.9%) |
| More than weekly up to biweekly | 37 (8.2%) | 36 (11.9%) | 98 (10.8%) | 171 (10.3%) |
| Unknown | 29 (6.4%) | 21 (6.9%) | 34 (3.7%) | 84 (5.0%) |
| # Medical care visits over 3 months | 0.4 (1.3) | 0.3 (1.0) | 0.5 (1.4) | 0.5 (1.3) |
| Medical care visit frequency (categorized)** | ||||
| None | 345 (76.5%) | 234 (77.2%) | 667 (73.2%) | 1246 (74.8%) |
| Monthly and less than monthly | 56 (12.4%) | 39 (12.9%) | 174 (19.1%) | 269 (16.2%) |
| Biweekly up to monthly | 16 (3.5%) | 9 (3.0%) | 27 (3.0%) | 52 (3.1%) |
| More than weekly up to biweekly | 5 (1.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 9 (1.0%) | 14 (0.8%) |
| Unknown | 29 (6.4%) | 21 (6.9%) | 34 (3.7%) | 84 (5.0%) |
| Years of Pain*** | ||||
| Less than 1 Year | 83 (18.4%) | 71 (7.8%) | 56 (18.5%) | 210 (12.6%) |
| 1 Years to Less than 2 Years | 36 (8.0%) | 50 (5.5%) | 18 (5.9%) | 104 (6.2%) |
| 2 Years to Less than 5 Years | 80 (17.7%) | 119 (13.1%) | 50 (16.5%) | 249 (15.0%) |
| 5 Years to Less than 10 Years | 71 (15.7%) | 164 (18.0%) | 50 (16.5%) | 285 (17.1%) |
| 10+ Years | 176 (39.0%) | 481 (52.8%) | 119 (39.3%) | 776 (46.6%) |
| Unknown | 5 (1.1%) | 26 (2.9%) | 10 (3.3%) | 41 (2.5%) |
| % of time spent in heavy labor | ||||
| None (0%) | 220 (48.8%) | 446 (49.0%) | 158 (52.1%) | 824 (49.5%) |
| Non-workplace: >0% but <20% | 52 (11.5%) | 108 (11.9%) | 27 (8.9%) | 187 (11.2%) |
| Workplace: >0% but <20% | 90 (20.0%) | 179 (19.6%) | 55 (18.2%) | 324 (19.5%) |
| Non-workplace: ≥20% | 14 (3.1%) | 26 (2.9%) | 7 (2.3%) | 47 (2.8%) |
| Workplace: ≥20% | 45 (10.0%) | 86 (9.4%) | 29 (9.6%) | 160 (9.6%) |
| Previous back surgery unsuccessful*** | 4 (0.9%) | 1 (0.1%) | 5 (0.4%) | |
| Previous neck surgery unsuccessful | 1 (0.3%) | 3 (0.3%) | 4 (0.3%) | |
| Use of medications over past 6 months: | ||||
| Over-the-counter pain medications often/always | 188 (41.7%) | 392 (43.0%) | 136 (44.9%) | 716 (43.0%) |
| Prescription pain medications often/always | 26 (5.8%) | 77 (8.5%) | 17 (5.6%) | 120 (7.2%) |
| Narcotic medications often/always | 21 (4.7%) | 44 (4.8%) | 8 (2.6%) | 73 (4.4%) |
| Exercise in Past 6 Months: Often to Always* | 313 (69.4%) | 568 (62.3%) | 210 (69.3%) | 1091 (65.5%) |
| New patient (<30 days)*** | 65 (14.4%) | 67 (7.4%) | 48 (15.8%) | 180 (10.8%) |
| Ended chiropractic care during 3 mos*** | 55 (12.2%) | 39 (4.3%) | 17 (5.6%) | 111 (6.7%) |
| Believe back pain is chronic | 277 (61.4%) | 569 (62.5%) | 846 (62.1%) | |
| Believe neck pain is chronic | 575 (63.1%) | 193 (63.7%) | 768 (63.3%) | |
| What low back pain would have been | 6.4 (2.2) | 6.5 (2.3) | 6.5 (2.3) | |
| What neck pain would have been | 6.5 (2.4) | 6.6 (2.3) | 6.6 (2.4) | |
| Exercise unsafe: agree to strongly agree | 24 (5.3%) | 50 (5.5%) | 12 (4.0%) | 86 (5.2%) |
| Pain management self-efficacy (1–10)** | 7.7 (1.8) | 7.4 (1.8) | 7.8 (1.7) | 7.6 (1.8) |
| Expect chiropractic very-extremely successful | 330 (73.2%) | 658 (72.2%) | 237 (78.2%) | 1225 (73.6%) |
| Expect a lot to quite a bit of improvement | 292 (64.7%) | 569 (62.5%) | 193 (63.7%) | 1054 (63.3%) |
| Worry about pain: mod to all the time** | 72 (16.0%) | 176 (19.3%) | 36 (11.9%) | 284 (17.1%) |
| Depression according to PROMIS items*** | 92 (20.4%) | 260 (28.5%) | 59 (19.5%) | 411 (24.7%) |
| Affective distress (7-point scale)*** | 2.0 (1.1) | 2.3 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.2) | 2.2 (1.2) |
| Catastrophizing (0–12 scale)*** | 2.0 (2.2) | 2.5 (2.4) | 1.8 (2.0) | 2.3 (2.3) |
| Average age in years | 48.4 (15.2) | 46.4 (12.6) | 47.4 (14.3) | 47.5 (14.3) |
| Gender: Female*** | 265 (58.8%) | 693 (76.1%) | 245 (80.9%) | 1203 (72.3%) |
| Education: Less than a 4-year degree* | 194 (43.0%) | 429 (47.1%) | 118 (38.9%) | 741 (44.5%) |
CT = complementary therapy providers other than chiropractic—here, most often massage therapists; CLBP = chronic low back pain; CNP = chronic neck pain; LBP = low back pain; NP = neck pain
*
The values for the 3 pain categories are statistically different at p<.05.
**
The values for the 3 pain categories are statistically different at p<.01.
***
The values for the 3 pain categories are statistically different at p<.001.