• Waalen DP
• White TP

• Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC)
• Chiropractic Clinics
• Open Access Document
• Patient Care / Ontario
• Patients
• Private Practice

This study focused on the attributes of all new patients (N = 15,174) treated at CMCC clinics from 1986 to 1990. The average age of patients (33 years) was similar to that of other teaching clinics (36.5 years) but lower than private practice patients (46 years). The average number of treatments (6.6) was similar to some other chiropractic college teaching clinic settings but lower than private practice patients in Ontario (9.8) and the United States (16.6). The cervical spine was the most common site (32.4%) of chief complaint followed by lumbar (24.4%), nonspinal (18.8%), thoracic (11.2%), sacroiliac (10.0%) and other (3.2%). Radiographs were taken on 34.4% of the patients, similar to other chiropractic college teaching clinics but lower than for private practice patients (73%). Complaints persisted for at least 6 months prior to treatment in 47.5% of the CMCC patients whereas other studies indicated that 81.4% of complaints treated by private chiropractic practitioners were of 6 months or greater duration. In general, as duration of complaint lengthened, the number of treatments required to reach resolution also increased. More than 70% of CMCC’s patients obtained complete or substantial relief from symptoms which compared well with other teaching clinics and private chiropractic practice. Recommendations for the development of new data gathering instruments, and involvement of private practitioners in this type of clinical research are made.

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