Amount of health care and self-care following a randomized clinical trial comparing flexion-distraction with exercise program for chronic low back pain

Table 4 Annualized Mean and Median Numbers of Visits per Health Care Provider for Low Back Pain during One-Year Follow-Up

	FD group (n = 107)		EP group (n = 84)
Outcome measure	Mean	Median	Mean	Median	p-value¹	p-value (non-parametric)
Any health care provider	2.2	0	6.0	1	0.005*	0.008**
General Practitioner/Internist	0.6	0	1.2	0	0.06	0.11
Chiropractor	0.9	0	2.7	0	0.13	0.21
Physical Therapist	0.1	0	0.3	0	0.92	0.97
Emergency Room	0.0	0	0.1	0
Orthopedic Surgeon	0.1	0	0.4	0
Massage Therapist	0.0	0	0.4	0
Acupuncturist	0.0	0	0.2	0
Napropath	0.0	0	0.1	0
Neurologist	0.0	0	0.0	0
Psychiatrist	0.1	0	0.0	0

* Treatment groups significantly different at p < 0.05 using regression analysis
**Treatment groups significantly different at p < 0.05 using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for non-parametric variables
¹ Controlling for gender, presence of radiculopathy, and pain (VAS) at start of follow-up

ISSN: 2045-709X