The use of diagnostic coding in chiropractic practice

Table 2 Patient demographics and encounter reasons

Patient characteristics (N = 135)	No.	%
Age [missing]	[7]	5
18-30	24	18
31-45	38	28
46-70	61	45
70+	5	4
Gender [missing]	[5]	4
Male	58	43
Female	72	53
Number of reasons for encounter per patient: [missing]	[3]	2
1	77	57
2	40	30
3	15	11
Reasons for encounter: [missing]	[7]	5
Neck pain	46	22
Back pain	76	38
Check up/maintenance	27	13
Other*	53	26
Total number of reasons for encounter	202
Total number of diagnoses provided by the chiropractors	167

*Examples of other: Headache, shoulder pain, arm pain, leg pain.
Note: The number of patients, the number of reasons for encounter and the number of diagnoses varied. Patients could report up to three reasons for encounter, which meant that some patients could have multiple diagnoses. In other cases the chiropractor combined some of a patient’s reasons for encounter into one diagnosis thus for these patients there could be more reasons for encounter than diagnoses.

ISSN: 2045-709X