Survey: Women Are Not Concerned About Bone Health
The National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC) released a survey that found while women view osteoporosis as a preventable and serious health threat, few women clearly understand the effects of bone loss. Even though the majority of women in the survey said they exercise and take calcium to prevent bone loss, few seem to understand or fear the consequences of not having healthy bones.

“Now that we are aware of the causes and dangers inherent in osteoporosis, millions of women will continue to disregard vital research studies, which point to the negative effects of the disease without intervention,” says John Amaro, DC, FIAMA. “It is our duty as DCs to educate our female patients to the seriousness of bone loss and guide them in prevention and treatment.”

The national survey found that women are waiting until it is too late to make a connection between bone loss and spinal fractures. Also according to the survey, women believe they are not at risk for a spinal fracture when, in fact, a Caucasian woman over the age of 50 has a 40% chance of suffering a fracture at some point in her life.

Back-Specific Exercise May Aggravate Back Pain
Findings from a study published in the October 2005 issue of American Journal of Public Health suggest that exercise may help ease low back pain, as long as it does not specifically target the back. According to the evidence, performing exercises to strengthen the low back may aggravate the pain.

“Many physicians do not spend the time to analyze patients on a biomechanical basis and suggest the same low back exercises to everyone,” says Kim D. Christensen, DC, DACRB, CCSP, CSCS, PeaceHealth Hospital, Longview, Wash. “In order to achieve routine success with patients with low back pain, specific corrective exercises are assigned based upon a thorough structural and functional low back evaluation.”

Researchers followed 700 low back-pain patients for 18 months. The patients who walked and performed recreational exercises had a lower risk of pain over time and had a better prognosis regarding pain, disability, and psychological distress than those who got little to no general exercise. In contrast, those who performed specific back exercises made matters worse and increased their risk of pain and disability over time.

As to why targeted back exercises may fail, Christensen says many low back-pain patients do abdominal exercises incorrectly. This can aggravate an underlying condition and causes the low back pain to persist.

Northwestern Submits Grant Proposal for CAM Project
The Wolfe-Center for Clinical Studies at Northwestern Health Sciences University (Bloomington, Minn) submitted a 4-year grant proposal for $800,000, titled “CAM Research Education Partnership Project,” to the National Institutes of Health. The grant aims to facilitate the practice of evidence-based health care by complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners.

“The university community has spoken on several levels for the need to provide our stakeholders the resources they need to practice and promote a natural health care model that is high-quality, patient-centered, and knowledge-based,” says Roni Evans, DC, MS, dean of research at Northwestern.

The project’s goal is to develop a Web-based research curriculum that is patient-oriented and program-specific and can be integrated into each of Northwestern’s educational programs. Northwestern would collaborate with educational designers and information-management experts from the University of Minnesota, Tufts University in Massachusetts, and the University of Virginia to develop the multifaceted research program for faculty, students, and alumni.

The proposal will be reviewed in the spring of 2006, and notification of acceptance or denial will be made by June 2006.

DCs Give CE a Thumbs Up
An online survey sent to chiropractors found that satisfaction among chiropractors with continuing education (CE) programs is high. The survey was published in the journal, Chiropractic & Osteopathy.

“It certainly appears that online continuing education is a popular method, with some very satisfied doctors taking such courses,” says Kent Stuber DC, BSc, one of the conductors of the study. “Overall the doctors seem quite satisfied with their CE experiences, whether in distance or traditional face-to-face formats. This should be encouraging for CE providers and might give them some ideas for future program directions.”

The survey was emailed to 1,000 chiropractors randomly selected from the mailing list of an online chiropractic newsletter. Data analysis included evaluation of the demographic characteristics of the respondents; their opinions of and patterns of taking CE, including online education; preferred learning formats; and their interest in proposed online master’s degree programs. Upon completion of the questionnaire, participants’ answers were saved on a secured site.

The survey found that completing a part-time online master’s degree is popular among chiropractors, with a MSc in chiropractic sciences being the most prominent. Nearly 86% of respondents felt their previously completed courses were satisfactory. More than 90% who had completed online or distance CE courses found them to be satisfactory; almost half indicated that they preferred online distance learning, while 34% preferred face-to-face interaction; 53% showed an interest in starting a master’s degree program. However, about 70% were interested in an online master’s degree program that would offer CE credit.