Charity Melanie J, Britt Helena C, Walker Bruce F, Gunn Jane M, Forsdike-Young Kirsty, Polus Barbara I, French Simon D
Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia ; Institute of Sport Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia ; School of Health Sciences, Federation University, Ballarat, Australia.
Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Chiropr Man Therap. 2016 Sep 1;24(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s12998-016-0110-2. eCollection 2016.
COAST (Chiropractic Observational and Analysis STudy) reported the clinical practices of chiropractors. The aims of this study were to: 1) describe the chiropractic patient demographic and health characteristics; 2) describe patient-stated reasons for visiting a chiropractor; 3) describe chiropractic patient lifestyle characteristics; 4) compare, where possible, chiropractic patient characteristics to the general Australian population.
Fifty-two chiropractors in Victoria, Australia, provided information for up to 100 consecutive encounters. If patients attended more than once during the 100 encounters, only data from their first encounter were included in this study. Where possible patient characteristics were compared with the general Australian population.
Data were collected from December 2010 to September 2012. Data were provided for 4464 encounters, representing 3287 unique individuals. The majority of chiropractic encounters were for musculoskeletal conditions or for wellness/maintenance. The majority of patient comorbidities were musculoskeletal, circulatory or endocrine/metabolic in nature. Eight hundred chiropractic patients (57 %, 95 % CI: 53-61) described their self-reported health as excellent or very good and 138 patients (10 %, 95 % CI: 8-12) as fair or poor. Seventy-one percent of adult male patients (18 years and older), and 53 % of adult female patients, were overweight or obese. Fourteen percent (n = 188, 95 % CI: 12-16) were current smokers and 27 % (n = 359, 95 % CI: 24-31) did not meet Australian alcohol consumption guidelines. Less than half of the chiropractic patients participated in vigorous exercise at least twice per week. Approximately 20 % ate one serving of vegetables or less each day, and approximately 50 % ate one serve of fruit or less each day. Compared to the general Australian population, chiropractic patients were less likely to smoke, less likely to be obese and more likely to describe their health in positive terms. However, many patients were less likely to meet alcohol consumption guidelines, drinking more than is recommended.
In general, chiropractic patients had more positive health and lifestyle characteristics than the Australian population. However, there were a significant proportion of chiropractic patients who did not meet guideline recommendations about lifestyle habits and there is an opportunity for chiropractors to reinforce public health messages with their patients.
整脊疗法观察与分析研究（COAST）报告了整脊治疗师的临床实践情况。本研究的目的是：1）描述整脊疗法患者的人口统计学和健康特征；2）描述患者自述的看整脊治疗师的原因；3）描述整脊疗法患者的生活方式特征；4）尽可能将整脊疗法患者的特征与澳大利亚普通人群进行比较。
澳大利亚维多利亚州的52名整脊治疗师提供了连续多达100次诊疗的信息。如果患者在这100次诊疗中就诊超过一次，本研究仅纳入其首次就诊的数据。尽可能将患者特征与澳大利亚普通人群进行比较。
数据收集时间为2010年12月至2012年9月。共提供了4464次诊疗的数据，代表3287名不同个体。大多数整脊疗法诊疗是针对肌肉骨骼疾病或健康维护/保健。大多数患者的合并症为肌肉骨骼、循环或内分泌/代谢方面的。800名整脊疗法患者（57%，95%置信区间：53 - 61）自述健康状况为优秀或非常好，138名患者（10%，95%置信区间：8 - 12）自述健康状况为一般或较差。成年男性患者（18岁及以上）中有71%，成年女性患者中有53%超重或肥胖。14%（n = 188，95%置信区间：12 - 16）为当前吸烟者，27%（n = 359，95%置信区间：24 - 31）未达到澳大利亚的饮酒指南标准。不到一半的整脊疗法患者每周至少进行两次剧烈运动。约20%的患者每天食用一份或更少的蔬菜，约50%的患者每天食用一份或更少的水果。与澳大利亚普通人群相比，整脊疗法患者吸烟的可能性较小，肥胖的可能性较小，且更倾向于用积极的语言描述自己的健康状况。然而，许多患者未达到饮酒指南标准，饮酒量超过推荐量。
总体而言，整脊疗法患者的健康和生活方式特征比澳大利亚人群更为积极。然而，有相当一部分整脊疗法患者未达到关于生活习惯的指南建议，整脊治疗师有机会向患者强化公共卫生信息。
