Expected Outcome

The Rule of 50% guides the expected outcomes of care under Cox® Technic protocols:
 
Cox Technic Rule of 50%

  1. 50% relief of pain symptoms subjectively reported (by you) and objectively (by certain tests the doctor does) is expected within 30 days.

    • If 50% is not attained, further testing and/or a surgical consultation will be considered.

  2. At 50% relief of pain which may come in just a visit or two your office visits will be reduced by 50%.
    • Example: If your treatment plan called for your coming to the office every day, you would be seen every two days.
 
It takes 3 months for a torn disc to heal sufficiently to return to normal activities of daily living.
- G. Hirschberg, MD, Texas Medical Journal, 1974, 70(12)
 
New research supports this 50% Rule, 30 days, and outcome expectation:
 

  • 30 DAYS: A low back pain patient’s not showing positive improvement within 30 days of case indicates that further examination or exploration is warranted. Menacing causes of low back pain are rare, but they do exist and need to be checked if a patient isn’t responding as expected. (1)
  • 50%% RELIEF: Chronic low back pain patients with 50% or more improvement at 2 weeks of care had 5.98 times higher odds of 50% improvement overall and 3.99 times higher odds of 50% improvement in disability scores at 6 months.  Even more interesting is that chronic low back pain patients with 33% or greater reduction in pain at 2 weeks of care had 6.98 times higher odds of 50% improvement overall and 4.74 times higher odds of 50% improvement in disability scores at 6 months.Early improvement – be it 33% or 50% - is a good indicator of a positive response to care. (2)

 

 
Know that your Cox® Technic physician will monitor your progress carefully and know when to take the next step, whatever that may be.