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LOWER BACK PAIN - COSTS
The Medical Merry-Go Round of Financial Burden and
still back pain
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BACK PAIN SUBSTANTIAL
DURAM, NC – In one of the largest analyses
of its kind, a team of Duke University Medical Center researchers
have found that patients suffering from back pain consume more than
$90 billion annually in health care expenses, with approximately $26
billion of that amount directly attributable to treating the back
pain.
The researchers said that their results not only
demonstrate the enormous economic impact of back pain, but provide
concrete data that policy makers and researchers can use in
determining how health care resources should be allocated.
The Duke team mined data from the Medical Expenditure
Panel Survey (MEPS)in 1998. The MEPS is a national survey conducted
by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the
National Center for Health Statistics. The team found 25.9 million
adults reported back pain in 1998, with 172.7 million reporting no
back pain.
“To put these expenses in perspective, the total
$90 billion spent in 1998 represented 1% of the U.S. Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and the 26 billion in direct back pain costs accounted
for 2.5% of all health care expenditures for that year,” said
lead researcher Xuemei Luo, Ph.D., who published the results of the
Duke study January 1st, 2004 in the journal Spine.
“We believe that the results of our analysis
highlight the prevalence of back pain in the U.S. and its impact on
the health care system,” Lou continued,” Not only are
these costs enormous, but they vary widely across patients with
different clinical, socioeconomic, and demographic backgrounds.
Significant healthcare savings could be achieved if this population
of patients received more cost effective and targeted
treatments.” Hmmm, sounds like my program, eh?
For the purposes of their study, back pain was defined
as pain experienced in any portion of the back, whether it be caused
by back disorders, disc disorders, or injuries to the back at some
point during 1998.
The population of 25.9 American adults who reported
back pain tended to be female (55%), white (88%), and married (61%),
with an average age of 48.
In their analysis, the researchers looked at such cost
categories as in-hospital costs, office-based visits, hospital
out-patient visits, emergency room visits, prescription medications,
and home health services. The survey also measured visits to such
healthcare providers as physicians, chiropractors, physical
therapists, psychologists, and nurses.
The annual per capita expenditures for patients with
back pain were 1.6 times higher than those without back pain at
$3,498 vs. $2,177. These increased expenditures were found in all
categories:
Copyright © 2005 James Fitness Inc. All Rights Reserved
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