| Objective: To report the demographic and diagnostic profiles of patients attending the Macquarie University Department of Chiropractic Clinic and Research Centre, Summer Hill, upon initial consultation. Design and Outcome Variables: Researchers reviewed and collected data from 1018 new patient files covering the period 1999-2001. Data collected consisted of age, sex, marital status, financial status, postcode, symptomatic region and diagnosis. Results: Of the 1018 patient files reviewed, 70% of patients were aged between 22 and 51 years of age. Patients were predominantly from the local area with no major gender bias detected. A total of 40% of patients had symptoms in the lumbar region, and the most common diagnosis was facet syndrome. Conclusion: Whilst most of the findings were similar to those in other studies, a few differences were noted. The occurrence of disc injuries was significantly lower than those found in the general population, while gender and marital status also differed. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text (print only) by subscription.
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