Alternative Medicine Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alternative Medicine, including details on complementary medicine, alternative therapies, homeopathy.

The relative responsiveness of 3 different types of clinical outcome measures on chiropractic patients with low back pain.

Hare-Mortensen L, Lauridsen H, Grunnet-Nilsson N

Human Locomotion Science, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the responsiveness/sensitivity of 3 fundamentally different types of outcome measures in low back pain. METHOD: This study is a longitudinal evaluation of outcome measures. Thirty-one private chiropractic practices in Denmark participated in this study. The outcome measures chosen for this study are the serial measurements using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, the patient's prospective global assessment on a visual analog scale, and the patient's retrospective global assessment of improvement on a visual analog scale. RESULTS: The 3 outcome measures differed significantly in their ability to register clinical improvement, with the retrospective global assessment of improvement being the most responsive. CONCLUSION: More research is needed in this area, and caution must be taken in choosing outcome measures for randomized clinical trials on low back pain.

Published 7 February 2006 in J Manipulative Physiol Ther, 29(2): 95-9.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Alternative Medicine Research Today. All Rights Reserved.