Clinical Skills

Why patients don’t seek care may be revealed in results from a study that interviewed 93 participants over age 65 who were asked about their experience with restricting back pain. Questions probed for beliefs, behaviors, coping mechanisms, emotional effects, and experiences with doctors. The full study results are reported in the journal BMC Geriatrics.1...
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A recent article published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reports findings of a study evaluating treatment costs, pain reduction, and overall improvement for patients with symptomatic cervical disc herniation (1). In this study, patient databases within a European orthopedic/rheumatology university hospital were searched. Clinical outcomes and cost of care for 52...
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Researchers recently published results from a study analyzing costs associated with musculoskeletal chest pain.(1) In this study, authors studied participants in Denmark who were candidates for chiropractic care and also reported a primary complaint of acute chest pain. Patients with a cardiac, pulmonary, or other internal diagnosis for chest pain, and those with other...
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Intermittent claudication is commonly caused by 2 distinctly different but similarly presenting conditions that can be hard to differentiate clinically: spinal stenosis and vascular insufficiency from peripheral artery disease. The Canadian Journal of Surgery published a study reporting the diagnostic value of symptom combinations in accurately distinguishing between spinal stenosis and arterial disease (1)....
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Research, through inquiry, testing, and discovery provides the scientific basis for what we know as doctors. But what about the art? Even with right evaluation and treatment decisions, care can be miserably unsuccessful due to unsatisfactory interpersonal interactions. To this end, an article published in the journal Family Practice Management condenses the art of...
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Evidence suggests that both primary care practitioners and doctors of chiropractic are not highly accurate when predicting the prognosis for patients with low back pain.1,2 Because accurate prognosis is key to apprising patients of their condition and in developing/implementing treatment plans, researchers in Denmark conducted a study to understand what components doctors of chiropractic...
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Effective communication between providers and patients is a key component to successful care. Less than effective communication potentially hinders interpersonal relationships, information exchange, and decision-making for both parties. Fortunately, there is a firm body of literature, which can inform both new and experienced practitioners about the art of communication. One such study, conducted by...
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That’s right. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Not only will you feel better emotionally, you might also be physically healthier. A recent RCT published in Diabetes Care showed that an 8-week intervention using something called “Mindful Self-Compassion” resulted in a decrease in measures of depression, diabetes-specific distress and HbA1c. (1) What is mindful...
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Several studies have shown that evidence is lacking for a causal relationship between cervical spine manipulation and cervical artery dissection. Recently, another systematic review and meta-analysis conducted within the Department of Neurosurgery at Penn State Hershey Medical Center independently came to the same conclusion (1). Study authors found an association between a visit to...
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One of the hallmarks of scientific journal publication is the peer review system. An editor cannot be knowledgeable about every possible area of research the journal he or she edits receives for consideration. So the paper is sent for review by people with expertise in the area the paper discusses, and the editor then...
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