Self-reported use of family physician, chiropractor and physiotherapy services among adult Canadians with chronic back disorders: an observational study

doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3790-6

Table 1
Description of independent variables included in analysis

Variable Description (if applicable) & categories
Health care utilization
Family Physician Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a family doctor or general practitioner about your physical, emotional or mental health?”. This included respondents with “only” use of a family physician (i.e. no use of a chiropractor or physiotherapist)
Chiropractor Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a chiropractor about your physical, emotional or mental health?” This included respondents with “any” use of a family chiropractor (i.e. could also report use of a family physician or physiotherapist).
Physiotherapist Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a physiotherapist about your physical, emotional or mental health?” This included respondents with “any” use of a physiotherapist (i.e. could also report use of a family physician or chiropractor).
Socio-demographic characteristics
Age 18–34 yrs.; 35-49 yrs.; 50-64 yrs.; ≥ 65 yrs. Categories based on quartiles and clinical relevance
Sex Male; female
Education Less than secondary; secondary graduation; some post-secondary; post-secondary graduation
Income A StatsCan-derived variable addressing income adequacy. Quintile of adjusted ratio of total household income to the low income cut-off corresponding to household and community size. This variable was unavailable for some respondents, for example, in cases where the person most knowledgeable about the household could not be identified.
Residence A StatsCan-derived variable. “Urban” residence includes communities with populations ≥10,000 people. “Rural” communities are disaggregated into sub-groups or Metropolitan Influenced Zones (MIZ) based on the size of commuting flows to any larger urban centre [41].
Ethnicity Caucasian; Aboriginal (i.e. First Nation, Métis or Inuit); other
Marital status Single; married or common law; widowed or separated or divorced
Immigration status Canadian-born; immigrant
Body Mass Index (BMI) Derived from self-reported height and weight. Underweight & Normal (< 25 kg/m²); Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m²); Obese (≥ 30 kg/m²) [42]
Lifestyle characteristics
Smoking status Never smoked; former smoker; current smoker
Physical activity A StatsCan derived variable combining leisure time and transportation physical activity based on estimated total daily energy expenditure variables (kcal/kg/day): active; moderately active; inactive
Health characteristics
Number of other co-morbidities/chronic conditions Includes “long-term conditions” which are expected to last or have already lasted 6 months or more and that have been diagnosed by a health professional. No other chronic conditions (other than CBD); 1or 2 chronic conditions (other than CBD); 3 or more chronic conditions (other than CBD)
HUI Pain/Function Health Utility Index (HUI) variable [43]. Considers whether pain prevents person from performing activities of daily living. 5 categories: no pain or discomfort; pain prevents no activities; pain prevents a few activities; pain prevents some activities; pain prevents most activities
Self-rated stress Ability to handle day-to-day demands: not at all/not very; a bit; quite a bit/extremely*
Self-rated overall health Indicates the respondent’s health status based on his/her own judgement or his/her proxy: excellent/very good; good; fair/poor^a

^aCollapsing of these categories was performed to maintain equal-sized categories and consistent categorization for all variables of interest

Variable	Description (if applicable) & categories
Health care utilization
Family Physician	Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a family doctor or general practitioner about your physical, emotional or mental health?”. This included respondents with “only” use of a family physician (i.e. no use of a chiropractor or physiotherapist)
Chiropractor	Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a chiropractor about your physical, emotional or mental health?” This included respondents with “any” use of a family chiropractor (i.e. could also report use of a family physician or physiotherapist).
Physiotherapist	Self-reported use obtained from the question: “(In the past 12 months) Have you seen or talked to a physiotherapist about your physical, emotional or mental health?” This included respondents with “any” use of a physiotherapist (i.e. could also report use of a family physician or chiropractor).
Socio-demographic characteristics
Age	18–34 yrs.; 35-49 yrs.; 50-64 yrs.; ≥ 65 yrs. Categories based on quartiles and clinical relevance
Sex	Male; female
Education	Less than secondary; secondary graduation; some post-secondary; post-secondary graduation
Income	A StatsCan-derived variable addressing income adequacy. Quintile of adjusted ratio of total household income to the low income cut-off corresponding to household and community size. This variable was unavailable for some respondents, for example, in cases where the person most knowledgeable about the household could not be identified.
Residence	A StatsCan-derived variable. “Urban” residence includes communities with populations ≥10,000 people. “Rural” communities are disaggregated into sub-groups or Metropolitan Influenced Zones (MIZ) based on the size of commuting flows to any larger urban centre [41].
Ethnicity	Caucasian; Aboriginal (i.e. First Nation, Métis or Inuit); other
Marital status	Single; married or common law; widowed or separated or divorced
Immigration status	Canadian-born; immigrant
Body Mass Index (BMI)	Derived from self-reported height and weight. Underweight & Normal (< 25 kg/m²); Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m²); Obese (≥ 30 kg/m²) [42]
Lifestyle characteristics
Smoking status	Never smoked; former smoker; current smoker
Physical activity	A StatsCan derived variable combining leisure time and transportation physical activity based on estimated total daily energy expenditure variables (kcal/kg/day): active; moderately active; inactive
Health characteristics
Number of other co-morbidities/chronic conditions	Includes “long-term conditions” which are expected to last or have already lasted 6 months or more and that have been diagnosed by a health professional. No other chronic conditions (other than CBD); 1or 2 chronic conditions (other than CBD); 3 or more chronic conditions (other than CBD)
HUI Pain/Function	Health Utility Index (HUI) variable [43]. Considers whether pain prevents person from performing activities of daily living. 5 categories: no pain or discomfort; pain prevents no activities; pain prevents a few activities; pain prevents some activities; pain prevents most activities
Self-rated stress	Ability to handle day-to-day demands: not at all/not very; a bit; quite a bit/extremely*
Self-rated overall health	Indicates the respondent’s health status based on his/her own judgement or his/her proxy: excellent/very good; good; fair/poor^a