Baseline Characteristics of a Medicaid Managed Care Low-Back Pain Cohort Presenting to Primary Care (January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013)
| Variable | All Patients (n = 454) | Consult Status | Participation Status Among Those with Consults | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PT Consult (n = 215) | No PT Consult (n = 239) | P-Value | PT (n = 81) | No PT (n = 134) | P-value | ||
| Demographic variables | |||||||
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 40.4 (12.0) | 37.3 (11.7) | 43.1 (11.6) | .00 | 39.9 (12.02) | 35.8 (11.3) | .01 |
| Female | 321 (70.7%) | 160 (74.4%) | 161 (67.4%) | .12 | 57 (70.4%) | 103 (76.9%) | .33 |
| Depression | 138 (30.4%) | 53 (24.7%) | 85 (35.6%) | .01 | 23 (28.4%) | 30 (22.4%) | .33 |
| Chronic pain | 129 (28.4%) | 40 (18.6%) | 89 (37.2%) | .00 | 12 (14.8%) | 28 (20.9%) | .29 |
| Obesity | 102 (22.5%) | 44 (20.5%) | 58 (24.3%) | .37 | 17 (21.0%) | 27 (20.1%) | 1.00 |
| Smoker | 106 (23.3%) | 33 (15.3%) | 73 (30.5%) | .00 | 11 (13.6%) | 22 (16.4%) | .70 |
| Charlson CCI | .00 | ||||||
| CCI < 2 | 245 (54.0%) | 148 (68.8%) | 97 (40.6%) | 45 (55.6%) | 103 (76.9%) | <.01 | |
| CCI 2 to 3 | 130 (28.6%) | 48 (22.3%) | 82 (34.3%) | 28 (34.6%) | 20 (14.9%) | ||
| CCI > 3 | 79 (17.4%) | 19 (8.8%) | 60 (25.1%) | 8 (9.9%) | 11 (8.2%) | ||
| Prior opioid prescription (within 90 days of index) | 99 (21.8%) | 42 (21.8%) | 57 (25.7%) | .40 | 9 (12.3%) | 33 (27.5%) | .02 |
| Procedure variables at index visit | |||||||
| X-ray at index visit | 75 (16.5%) | 44 (20.5%) | 31 (13.0%) | .04 | 24 (29.6%) | 20 (14.9%) | .01 |
| MRI at index visit | 2 (0.4%) | 0 | 2 (0.8%) | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Additional orders | 75 (16.5%) | 35 (16.3%) | 40 (16.7%) | 1.00 | 8 (9.9%) | 27 (20.1%) | .06 |
| Consult to Specialty care | 61 (13.4%) | 3 (1.4%) | 58 (24.3%) | .00 | 0 (0%) | 3 (2.2%) | .30 |
| Consult for advanced imaging | 19 (4.2%) | 2 (0.9%) | 16 (7.1%) | .001 | 1 (1.2%) | 1 (0.7%) | 1.00 |
| Opioid prescription | 113 (24.9%) | 50 (25.95) | 63 (28.4%) | .58 | 14 (19.2%) | 36 (30.0%) | .13 |
| NSAID prescription | 96 (21.1%) | 56 (29.05) | 40 (18.0%) | .01 | 20 (27.4%) | 36 (30.0%) | .75 |
| Muscle relaxant prescription | 51 (11.2%) | 35 (18.1%) | 16 (7.2%) | .001 | 9 (12.3%) | 26 (21.7%) | .12 |
CCI, Co-Morbitiy Index; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory; PT, physical therapy; SD, Standard Deviation.