Association between chiropractic care and use of prescription opioids among older medicare beneficiaries with spinal pain: a retrospective observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The burden of spinal pain can be aggravated by the hazards of opioid analgesics, which are still widely prescribed for spinal pain despite evidence-based clinical guidelines that identify non-pharmacological therapies as the preferred first-line approach. Previous studies have found that chiropractic care is associated with decreased use of opioids, but have not focused on older Medicare beneficiaries, a vulnerable population with high rates of co-morbidity and polypharmacy. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the association between chiropractic utilization and use of prescription opioids among older adults with spinal pain.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective observational study in which we examined a nationally representative multi-year sample of

SUBMITTER: Whedon JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8802278 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature