BACE: Chiropractic Australia

Low Back Pain (LBP) is the leading cause of global disability, with the increase in disability associated with LBP due primarily to population growth and aging.

One in four older Australians have LBP, and LBP in older people is more incapacitating than in younger people. LBP is also associated with poorer physical health and non-recovery.

With an ageing population, where 6.2 million Australians will be aged older than 65 by 2042, LBP will have an increasingly large burden on the Australian economy. This study will exclusively focus on the burdensome condition of LBP in older Australians.

The BAck Complaints in Elders (BACE) consortium is an international cohort study examining back complaints in older people in primary care. A European research group has begun a BACE - chiropractic cohort, and this project will join the global collaboration to explicitly explore LBP in older chiropractic patients.

1. Describe the population of adults aged 55 years or over who seek chiropractic care for low back pain.

2. Determine the health outcomes and examine the costs, safety and satisfaction of chiropractic care for the treatment of low back pain in adults aged 55 years or over.

3. Determine the predictors of disabling back pain in older adults.

We will use established methodology from an international consortium to collect practice-based data from Australian chiropractors. A total of 1000 older participants will be recruited into a 12-month, prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Patient participant inclusion criterion is a ‘new’ episode of LBP, defined as the patient not visiting a chiropractor during the preceding six months for the same back complaint.

Questions about sociodemographic factors, lifestyle characteristics, health, pain, functional status, satisfaction and quality of life will be asked at baseline and at follow up surveys.

Data will be collected using an online survey or a hard copy survey at baseline, and at 2 and 6 weeks and at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months follow up.

This study is a practice-based study. We need chiropractors to recruit patients as participants in our study. The study is open to registered chiropractors across Australia, with recruitment during 2019 and 2020.

Taking part in BACE: C-A is a great professional development opportunity. As a chiropractor, you will learn about research and assist the study investigators in the recruitment of older patients with back pain.

• Once a patient becomes a participant in our study, you will not have to do anything differently to how you would normally practice.
• We will independently follow the participants for 12 months, capturing important information about their back pain.
• We will not ask you to ‘do’ anything to the patient - there is no intervention, this is purely an observational study.

You will receive training on how to recruit patients to our study, as well as a practitioner information pack.

Your patients will be asked to complete a survey in your practice prior to any treatment.

After completion of the survey, you can continue to treat the patient as you normally would and the research team will contact them to continue the BACE: C-A study independently.

If you would like to join the team of BACE: C-A chiropractors, please complete this form.

If you are already involved in BACE:C-A and have any questions or comments, contact the BACE:C-A team:

T: +61 (2) 9850 6009
M: 0456 654 064
E: bace.c@mq.edu.au

The BACE: C-A study is an observational study that will follow the course of your back pain over 12 months.

Back pain in older people is a common and debilitating condition, and we would like to know more about the type and cost of treatment you are receiving, and your satisfaction with your healthcare providers.

We are hoping to recruit 350 people aged over 55 years who have visited a chiropractor for a new episode of back pain. These people will come from all over Australia.

Participants will be asked to answer questions about their back pain, their general health and the healthcare they use, several times over a 12-month period.

You have been invited to take part in the study by your chiropractor because you are aged over 55 years and reported having back pain.

No, you do not have to take part in the study. If you do decide to take part, you may also change your mind without telling us why. You can withdraw from the trial at any time. Your decision will not make any difference to the medical care you receive.

If you are aged over 55 years and report having back pain, you may be asked by your chiropractor to join a longitudinal study on back complaints in the elderly. If so, chiropractic practice staff will determine if you are eligible for the study. If you are eligible and you decide that you would like to take part, you will be asked to sign and date a consent form.

You will then be asked to complete a survey on the day that you receive your chiropractic treatment. In this survey, you will be asked to complete questions about your back pain, your health and socio-demographics (eg where you live, your level of education etc). You will then be asked to complete six surveys and respond to regular SMS text messages about your back pain over a 12-month period.

Dr Katie de Luca is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Chiropractic at Macquarie University. If you have any questions or comments about the BACE: C-A study, please get in touch with the BACE: C-A team using the contact form.

Expenses and payments

We are not able to pay expenses for your back pain treatment.

What are the benefits and risks of taking part in the study?

We hope the information we get from this study will help in the understanding of chiropractic care for older people with back pain. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable answering certain questions about their health. If there are any questions, in the questionnaires or asked by our researchers, that you are uncomfortable with then you do not have to answer them.

Who will know that I am taking part?

Your chiropractor or a member of their staff will invite you to answer a survey about your back pain, prior to any treatment. If you are eligible and choose to participate, the BACE: C-A research team will contact you to administer surveys and cognitive assessments over the phone. Therefore, the staff at your chiropractic clinic and the BACE: C-A research team will know that you are participating. You are also free to tell anyone that you are taking part eg your doctor, friends or family.

Will my details be kept confidential?

Only the BACE: C-A research team will have access to data, with all information kept strictly confidential by the BACE:C-A research team. Electronic study data is stored securely in California and not in Australia, with hard copy data stored securely at Macquarie University. Data will be kept by the BACE:C-A research team for five years, after the last publication.

Who is organising and funding the research?

The study is funded by the Australian Chiropractors Association and conducted by the BACE: C-A research team led by Dr Katie de Luca.

If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with the BACE: C-A team using the contact form.