The Nordic Maintenance Care Program: Effectiveness of Chiropractic Maintenance Care versus Symptom-Guided Treatment for Recurrent and Persistent Low Back Pain: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial
The Nordic Maintenance Care Program: Effectiveness of Chiropractic Maintenance Care versus Symptom-Guided Treatment for Recurrent and Persistent Low Back Pain: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial
This pragmatic randomised controlled trial compares planned, scheduled chiropractic maintenance visits against returning to treatment only when symptoms flare up, for patients whose low back pain tends to recur.
What was studied?
328 patients who had already responded well to an initial course of chiropractic care were randomly assigned to either scheduled maintenance visits or symptom-guided treatment, tracked over the following year.
What did they find?
The maintenance care group had 85.2 bothersome pain days over the year compared with 98.0 in the symptom-guided group, about 12.8 fewer days, but attended 1.7 more treatment visits to achieve it.
Why it matters
For people whose back pain recurs, a planned maintenance approach can genuinely reduce the number of days pain interferes with life, at the cost of a modest number of extra visits.
Why we included it
It illustrates a principle at the heart of good long-term care: brief, planned support can prevent problems recurring, rather than waiting to react once they do.
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What was studied?
328 patients who had already responded well to an initial course of chiropractic care were randomly assigned to either scheduled maintenance visits or symptom-guided treatment, tracked over the following year.
What did they find?
The maintenance care group had 85.2 bothersome pain days over the year compared with 98.0 in the symptom-guided group, about 12.8 fewer days, but attended 1.7 more treatment visits to achieve it.
Why it matters
For people whose back pain recurs, a planned maintenance approach can genuinely reduce the number of days pain interferes with life, at the cost of a modest number of extra visits.
Why we included it
It illustrates a principle at the heart of good long-term care: brief, planned support can prevent problems recurring, rather than waiting to react once they do.