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Expenditures
rising for back and neck problems, but
health outcomes do not appear to be
improving
Newswise — Although
expenses related to back and neck problems
have increased substantially in the last
decade, outcomes such as functional
disability and work limitations do not
appear to be improving, according to a study
in the February 13 issue of JAMA.
Back and neck problems
are among the symptoms most commonly
encountered in clinical practice.
In a 2002
survey of U.S. adults, 26 percent reported
low back pain and 14 percent reported neck
pain in the previous three months, according
to background information in the article.
Rates of imaging and therapy for back and
neck (spine) problems have increased
substantially in the last decade, but it is
not clear how this has effected expenditures
or health outcomes for individuals with
these problems.
Brook I. Martin,
M.P.H., of the University of Washington,
Seattle, and colleagues conducted a study to
examine changes in expenditures and health
status related to spine problems.
The
researchers analyzed 1997 – 2005 data from
the nationally representative Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). A total of
23,045 respondents (U.S. adults older than
17 years) were sampled in 1997, including
3,139 who reported spine problems.
In 2005,
the sample included 22,258 respondents,
including 3,187 who reported spine problems.
The researchers found
that expenditures were higher in each year
for those with spine problems than for those
without.
In 1997,the average age- and
sex-adjusted medical costs for respondents
with spine problems was $4,695, compared
with $2,731 among those without spine
problems (inflation adjusted to 2005
dollars).
In 2005, the average age- and
sex-adjusted medical expenditures among
respondents with spine problems was $6,096,
compared with $3,516 among those without
spine problems.
From 1997 to 2005, these
trends resulted in an estimated 65 percent
inflation-adjusted increase in the total
national expenditure of adults with spine
problems, a more rapid increase than overall
health expenditures.
Most of the difference
observed in inflation-adjusted expenditures
between those with and without spine
problems in 2005 was accounted for by
outpatient services (36 percent) and
inpatient services (28 percent).
Smaller
proportions were accounted for by
prescription medications (23 percent);
emergency department visits (3 percent); and
home health, dental and other expenses (10
percent).
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