Evans, Maiers Co-Author ‘Best Article of 2022’

A randomized controlled trial conducted at Northwestern Health Sciences University was voted best article of 2022 by the Journal of Chiropractic and Manual Therapies. Roni Evans, DC, PhD, MS ‘93 and Michele Maiers DC, PhD, MPH ‘00 were co-authors on the paper, which studied multidisciplinary integrative care versus chiropractic care for low back pain.  

This randomized controlled trial featured 201 participants with low back pain receiving either chiropractic care, or multidisciplinary care including acupuncture, massage, chiropractic care, exercise rehabilitation, medication management, and cognitive behavior therapy depending on their individualized treatment plan.  

Integrative care offered greater improvement in back pain, disability, and satisfaction over chiropractic care alone over one year, however both groups showed improvement. The difference between both groups may not be clinically relevant on an individual level.  

Additionally, the paper included important insights on successfully building integrative care teams and developing non-hierarchical care pathways that transcend health care settings, patient conditions and populations.  

Story by Kit Harlow, Chiropractic Student