The Nordic maintenance care program: case management of chiropractic patients with low back pain – defining the patients suitable for various management strategies

BACKGROUND Maintenance care is a well known concept among chiropractors, although there is little knowledge about its exact definition, its indications and usefulness. As an initial step in a research program on this phenomenon, it was necessary to identify chiropractors' rationale for their use of maintenance care. Previous studies have identified chiropractors' choices of case management strategies in response to different case scenarios. However, the rationale for these management strategies is not known. In other words, when presented with both the case, and different management strategies, there was consensus on how to match these, but if only the management strategies were provided, would chiropractors be able to define the cases to fit these strategies? The objective with this study was to investigate if there is a common pattern in Finnish chiropractors' case management of patients with low back pain (LBP), with special emphasis on long-term treatment. METHODS Information was obtained in a structured workshop. Fifteen chiropractors, members of the Finnish Chiropractors' Union, and present at the general assembly, participated throughout the entire workshop session. These were divided into five teams each consisting of 3 people. A basic case of a patient with low back pain was presented together with six different management strategies undertaken after one month of treatment. Each team was then asked to describe one (or several) suitable case(s) for each of the six strategies, based on the aspects of 1) symptoms/findings, 2) the low back pain history in the past year, and 3) other observations. After each session the people in the groups were changed. Responses were collected as key words on flip-over boards. These responses were grouped and counted. RESULTS There appeared to be consensus among the participants in relation to the rationale for at least four of the management strategies and partial consensus on the rationale for the remaining two. In relation to maintenance care, the patient's past history was important but also the doctor-patient relationship. CONCLUSION These results confirm that there is a pattern among Nordic chiropractors in how they manage patients with LBP. More information is needed to define the "cut-point" for the indication of prolonged care.