Chiropractic Success by the Numbers

There’s no shortage of evidence that chiropractic care helps many millions of people every year.  From clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals to online testimonials published on popular review and directory sites by individual patients who want to share their stories, it’s clear that chiropractic care can change lives.  But there’s also a third way to assess the impact of chiropractic care—one that’s broader and less technical than clinical studies but more rigorous and generalizable than personal anecdotes.  This third way focuses on the experiences of groups of patients and examines their level of satisfaction with the care they’ve received from chiropractic physicians.

These satisfaction surveys can give us a valuable perspective on chiropractic care and the impact it’s having on patients.  Back in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services delivered to Congress a report that detailed its findings from a “demonstration project” designed to assess the effects of expanding Medicare coverage for chiropractic services.  As part of this work, researchers conducted a satisfaction survey of chiropractic patients.  60% of respondents indicated that they received “complete” or “a lot” of relief of symptoms from their chiropractic treatments.  Satisfaction with care was high, with 87% reporting levels of 8 or higher on a 10-point scale and 56% indicating a perfect score of 10.  Chiropractic care was felt to be easily accessible, and nearly 95% of respondents indicated that they had to wait no more than one week for appointments.  Similarly high proportions reported that chiropractors listened carefully and spent sufficient time with them.

Here are a few of the survey highlights: 

• 68.7% of patients sought chiropractic services because of musculoskeletal disorders
• 21.2% of patients visited a chiropractor for general health reasons  
• 70.2% of patients indicated that personal beliefs motivated them to see a chiropractor
• 97.5% of patients (the vast majority) would seek chiropractic services again and were satisfied with the services they had received.

When it comes to back-pain treatment options, patients who have used chiropractic are much more likely to say it helped a lot than patients who’ve tried other therapies.  Here’s a quick statistical snapshot courtesy of Consumer Reports magazine (September 2011):

Treatment Option                         % Used It                        % “Helped a Lot”

Chiropractic                                         36%                                         65%

Prescription Medication                       38%                                         53%

Deep-Tissue Massage                        24%                                         51%

OTC Medication                                  58%                                         28%

Chiropractic care has received very high patient satisfaction scores in many surveys, and we’re proud of our great track record!  Our numbers are also increasing slowly but surely.  Every year more and more people are becoming more educated on this aspect of health and utilizing more natural forms of healthcare to both prevent and treat health issues.  Chiropractic fits perfectly into this model… empower the body to do what it does best—heal!