Table 4
The use of maintenance care in patients with different past histories but identical outcomes.
| "Would you consider recommending MC to this patient?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Perhaps | Yes | Missing | |
| Past history | Frequency (%) | Frequency (%) | Frequency (%) | Frequency (%) |
| He has never previously had any back pain at all. |
257
(87%) | 19 (6%) | 12 (4%) | 8 (3%) |
| Over the past 5 years he has had 1-2 episodes of LBP a year, each event lasting 5-6 days and resolving spontaneously. | 67 (23%) | 135 (46%) | 86 (29%) | 8 (3%) |
| Over the past 5 years he has had 1 episode of LBP per month, each event lasting 5-6 days and resolving spontaneously. | 20 (7%) | 61 (21%) |
207
(70%) | 8 (3%) |
| Over the past 5 years he had about 1 episode per week, each event lasting 2-3 days and resolving spontaneously. | 29 (10%) | 54 (18%) |
205
(69%) | 8 (3%) |
The following course of treatment was given: You treat him once and the symptoms disappear directly after a manipulation to the painful area. You follow him for two months and the pain does not reappear, the movement pattern is normal and you cannot provoke any symptoms by palpation or other tests. The expected answers are written in bold, and where the majority of the practitioners agree with the research team, the answer is also in italics.