Improvement in Mobility, Emotional Wellbeing & Quality of Life in an Older Adult Following Subluxation Based Chiropractic Care: A Case Report
Dipal Patel DipAppSc & David Russell B.S.c (Psych) B.S.c (Chiro)
Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research ~ September 17, 2015 ~ Pages 157-162
Abstract
Objective: To describe the changes in mobility, emotional status, and quality of life in an 82 year old female with bilateral osteoarthritis of the knees who was receiving chiropractic care.
Clinical Features: An 82 year old female presented to a chiropractor with lack of mobility and function due to chronic osteoarthritis of the knees bilaterally, and degenerative disc disease and postural alterations through the lumbar spine. Associated emotional stress was also of concern as a contributor to impaired quality of life.
Intervention & Outcome: Chiropractic care using Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique was provided for the correction of vertebral and extremity subluxations. The patient demonstrated physical improvements in mobility and RAND36 assessment revealed an improvement in her Physical Component Summary score of 11.65. Emotional wellbeing improvements were also found by using both RAND36 and PHQ-4 assessments.
Conclusion: Chiropractic care was associated with improvements in the patient’s presenting complaints and quality of life. More research is needed to investigate the role chiropractors may play in helping older adults with conditions associated with aging.
Key words: Aging, chiropractic, stress, psychological, emotions, knee, mental health, osteoarthritis, Activator Methods, vertebral subluxation
