Canada
New Survey Examines
Canadians’ Experience of Back Pain
Almost two-thirds of Canadian adults suffered from back pain in the past year,
with a majority reporting their pain as moderate to severe, according to the
findings of a new national survey conducted by Environics Research Group.
The company conducted
a survey of 1,500 adults in Canada, including 1,062 who have experienced back
pain in the past 24 months, last April for the Canadian Chiropractic Association.
The impact of back pain on the daily lives of sufferers ranged from time off
work and difficulty concentrating, to restricted family and physical activities
and depression.
“These findings are a wake-up call,” says Greg Stewart, D.C., president
of the Canadian Chiropractic Association. “They show that back pain hits
Canadians hard. Too often the physical and emotional cost of back pain isn’t
taken seriously and back pain is frequently dismissed as something that will
eventually go away on its own. This study tells us that is not the case.”
Thirty percent of those surveyed say their pain lasted a month or more including
16 percent who report back pain that is chronic and continuous. Those who report
their back pain as severe are more likely to report that their pain never went
away.
In addition to the human toll, back pain also hurts Canada’s economy.
Of those who were working at the time they experienced back pain, 15 percent
report losing time off work ranging from a few days (18 percent) to a month
or more (53 percent). Health Canada estimates that musculoskeletal disorders,
including back pain, cost society a total of $16.4 billion in direct (treatment
and rehabilitation) costs and lost productivity.
The most common treatment used by back pain suffers is over-the-counter medication
(37 percent). More than a third visited a chiropractor, physiotherapist, massage
therapist or family doctor. Fourteen percent of back pain sufferers did nothing
to treat their pain, the most frequent reason being they “thought it would
go away.” The Canadian Chiropractic Association will be developing a public
education program to help prevent and manage back pain in response to the survey
findings.
“The public needs to understand there are many things they can do to prevent
back injuries from occurring,” said Stewart. “The Canadian chiropractic
profession is committed to taking initiative on this public health issue to
reduce the incidence of back pain and its cost to society.”
Australia
Study Reveals More than half of all Australian Primary School Children are
Over-Medicated
A new study conducted in Melbourne indicates that parents might be over-medicating
their children with over-the-counter products, not controversial prescription
drugs.
The most common drugs used were paracetamol, vitamins and cold and flu medicines.
More than half of all primary school children take some sort of medication at
least once every two weeks.
Researcher Dr. Alissa Lim, found that only 15 percent of the 250 different medications
identified were prescriptions. “Sixty-two percent of children had used
at least one medication in the two weeks covered by the survey and 14 percent
had used four or more.”
Children were most commonly medicated for conditions that included viruses,
headaches, asthma and eczema. Lim believes that the study proves that parents
need to be better educated that over-the-counter drugs have only been tested
for adults and may not be safe for use with children.
The survey was conducted with 1,500 from 30 public primary schools and listed
250 different medications. Lim presented her findings at the recent meeting
of the annual Scientific Meeting of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Jamaica
Government Officially Recognizes Chiropractic
In an official letter from the Jamaican Minister of Health, Doreen Brown, executive
director of the Jamaican Chiropractic Association, was informed that, “the
Ministry has determined that the practice of chiropractic will be regulated
under the legal regime of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act. Under
that act, new and emerging professions can be incorporated and provisions added
thereto to satisfy the unique requirements of each profession.”
The will be making the necessary arrangements during the current legislative
year.
The letter also stated, “The Ministry will ensure that the interests of
chiropractors are accommodated through adequate representation on the Board
of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Council.”
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