Abstract
Background: Psychosocial stress pervades modern life and is known to have an impact on health.
Pain, especially chronic back pain, is influenced by stress. Various strategies have
been shown to successfully reduce stress and its consequences. Objectives: This study explores stress as a potential disease trigger among chiropractic patients.
Method: A descriptive study was undertaken to ascertain the stress perceptions of chiropractic
patients. Purposive sampling of chiropractic practices and convenience sampling of
patients was undertaken. Patients were allocated to 1 of 4 groups according to their
presentation: acute, chronic biomechanical, fibromyalgia, or maintenance care. Participating
patients were requested to complete a questionnaire. Results: Of the 138 patients attending 1 of 10 participating chiropractic clinics, more than
30% regarded themselves as moderately to severely stressed, and over 50% felt that
stress had a moderate or greater effect on their current problem. Some 71% of patients
felt it would be helpful if their chiropractic care included strategies to help them
cope with stress, and 44% were interested in taking a self-development program to
enhance their stress management skills. Conclusion: Patient perceptions are known to be important in health care. A number of chiropractic
patients perceive they are moderately or severely stressed. Interventions that reduce
stress, or even the patient's perception of being stressed, may be construed as valid,
non-specific clinical interventions. It may be timely for chiropractors to actively
contemplate including stress management routinely in their clinical care protocols.
(J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999; 22:395–8)
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Received:
November 25,
1998
Footnotes
☆Submit requests for reprints to: Jennifer Jamison, MB, BCh, PhD, EdD, Department of Chiropractic, Osteopathy & Complementary Medicine, Faculty of Biomedical & Health Sciences, RMIT, Bundoora Campus, Plenty Rd, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
Identification
Copyright
© 1999 JMPT. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
