Department of Defense Report on Chiropractic Submitted to Congress

The report of the Department of Defense on the Chiropractic Health Care Demonstration Project has been finished and submitted to Congress. The report, finalized by Department of Defense (DOD) consultants Birch and Davis has some interesting findings:

*5% of all military personnel will receive care for low back complaints every year.

*The total effect of chiropractic care on active duty time availability would likely range between 111,000 and 331,000 additional duty days per year, with a central value of about 199,000.

*Chiropractic care is associated with improved outcomes in time availability of active duty, reduced inpatient admissions by active duty and reduced physical therapy visits.

*Active duty beneficiaries clearly have a strong demand for chiropractic services, and this demand is strictly increasing with age.

After their care program ended, the responses of patients who received chiropractic care were compared with those who received medical care:

*How satisfied are you with improvement in your condition?

Chiropractic 81.5%, Medicine 55.6%

*How satisfied are you with the practitioner's willingness to spend time with you?

Chiropractic 95.1%, Medicine 77.5%

*How satisfied are you with the explanation of your treatment? Excellent:

Chiropractic 95.1%, Medicine 81.1%

*I feel better now. Strongly agree:

Chiropractic 78.5%, Medicine 49.2%

*I had good results. Strongly agree:

Chiropractic 82.9%, Medicine 50.7%

*Days on restricted duty:

0: Chiropractic 71.5%, Medicine 51.1%

1-4: Chiropractic 4.2%, Medicine 8.2%

5+: Chiropractic 2.3%, Medicine 40.7%

The chiropractic members of the Oversight Advisory Committee (OAC) submitted a separate report pointing out that while the inclusion of chiropractic care into the military would cost about $43 million, it would save the military (excuse me, taxpayers) nearly $70 million in other expenses with a net savings of about $26 million every year.

Please write your representatives in Congress and encourage them to support the inclusion of Chiropractic in the military health plan. If you don't know who your representatives are and you have access to the internet, you can find out by going to http://www.vote-smart.org/ and enter your zip code. A detailed list of your national and local representatives will then be displayed.