The epidemiology and medical management of low back pain during ambulatory medical care visits in the United States

Licciardone, John C

doi:10.1186/1750-4732-2-11

Table 5 Factors Associated with Medical Management during Patient Visits in which Low Back Pain was the Primary Reason for Seeking Care, 2003–2004 (n = 710)*

From: The epidemiology and medical management of low back pain during ambulatory medical care visits in the United States

	Medical Management
	Exercise Counseling		Any Patient Counseling		Narcotic Analgesic		NSAID		Any Drug
Characteristic	OR†	95% CI	OR†	95% CI	OR†	95% CI	OR†	95% CI	OR†	95% CI
Patient age, y
<25	0.53	0.15 – 1.90	0.64	0.27 – 1.53	0.35	0.11 – 1.11	0.93	0.44·1.94	0.19	0.08 – 0.50
25–44	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
45–64	1.20	0.66 – 2.19	1.08	0.66 – 1.75	0.80	0.47 – 1.36	0.64	0.39·1.06	0.63	0.36 – 1.09
≥65	0.93	0.47 – 1.83	0.67	0.38 – 1.19	0.42	0.21 – 0.84	0.73	0.44·1.20	0.77	0.38 – 1.56
Patient sex
Female	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Male	0.85	0.52 – 1.38	0.91	0.62 – 1.36	0.90	0.59 – 1.39	0.99	0.68·1.45	0.76	0.50 – 1.14
Patient race
White	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Non-White	0.66	0.23 – 1.89	0.49	0.25 – 0.96	0.91	0.42 – 2.01	1.30	0.60·2.84	3.54	1.40 – 8.97
Patient ethnicity
Non-Hispanic	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Hispanic	1.45	0.77 – 2.77	1.45	0.77 – 2.77	0.30	0.11 – 0.76	1.12	0.53·2.36	1.78	0.73 – 4.36
Geographic region
Northeast	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Midwest	0.33	0.14 – 0.78	0.29	0.14 – 0.60	1.18	0.43 – 3.24	2.05	0.93 – 4.49	2.00	0.67 – 5.97
South	0.27	0.13 – 0.56	0.36	0.17 – 0.74	1.16	0.50 – 2.72	1.81	0.84 – 3.90	2.23	0.98 – 5.08
West	0.59	0.26 – 1.34	0.45	0.22 – 0.93	1.56	0.63 – 3.84	1.45	0.67 – 3.14	1.85	0.75 – 4.56
MSA status
MSA	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Non-MSA	0.45	0.21 – 0.96	0.77	0.38 – 1.53	1.96	1.06 – 3.63	0.90	0.40 – 2.07	2.90	0.64 – 13.08
Chronicity
Acute (initial visit)	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Chronic (follow-up visit)	0.87	0.48 – 1.59	1.16	0.72 – 1.87	1.54	0.87 – 2.75	0.56	0.37 – 0.86	0.35	0.19 – 0.64
IPA etiology
No	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Yes	2.34	1.49 – 3.68	2.38	1.50 – 3.77	0.74	0.44 – 1.27	1.19	0.83 – 1.73	0.62	0.36 – 1.08
PCP status
Non-PCP or unknown	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
PCP	1.59	0.67 – 3.76	1.10	0.56 – 2.17	1.38	0.72 – 2.67	1.62	1.05 – 2.49	1.98	1.19 – 3.28
Type of physician
Doctor of Medicine	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Doctor of Osteopathy	1.53	0.80 – 2.92	1.02	0.46 – 2.26	0.70	0.31 – 1.58	0.43	0.24 – 0.76	0.44	0.18 – 1.11
Physician specialty
Family (general) medicine	0.30	0.12 – 0.74	0.71	0.32 – 1.59	0.99	0.46 – 2.12	1.52	0.79 – 2.92	2.38	1.06 – 5.35
Internal medicine	0.15	0.05 – 0.40	0.42	0.13 – 1.32	0.63	0.25 – 1.62	0.68	0.28 – 1.69	0.73	0.28 – 1.87
Neurology	0.24	0.06 – 0.94	0.50	0.18 – 1.39	0.88	0.38 – 2.05	0.94	0.43 – 2.04	0.86	0.38 – 1.98
Orthopedics	1.55	0.59 – 4.05	1.01	0.40 – 2.55	0.81	0.33 – 2.00	0.97	0.39 – 2.40	0.45	0.16 – 1.31
All other specialties	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Shared physician care
No or unknown	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...	1.00	...
Yes	1.13	0.62 – 2.08	1.08	0.62 – 1.87	1.61	0.95 – 2.76	1.28	0.70 – 2.36	1.02	0.60 – 1.75

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; IPA, injury, poisoning, or adverse effect of medical treatment; MSA, metropolitan statistical area; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; OR, odds ratio; PCP, primary care physician.
*Only initial visits for acute problems or follow-up visits for chronic problems were included.
†Adjusted for all variables shown.

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