Five-Year Clinical Course and Medical Consumption
| Outcomes | Follow-up time | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline, n = 675 | 3 months, n = 626 | 6 months, n = 612 | 9 months, n = 585 | 1 year, n = 591 | 2 years, n = 501 | 3 years, n = 429 | 4 years, n = 392 | 5 years, n = 392* | |
| Five-year clinical course, mean (± SD) | |||||||||
| Average back pain previous week (NRS) | 5.2 (2.7) | 3.6 (2.8) | 3.4 (2.8) | 3.4 (2.9) | 3.3 (2.8) | 3.2 (2.9) | 3.4 (2.9) | 3.2 (2.9) | 3.0 (2.9) |
| Disability (RMDQ) | 9.8 (5.8) | 7.8 (6.2) | 7.2 (6.1) | 7.2 (6.4) | 6.9 (6.4) | 7.0 (6.4) | 7.2 (6.4) | 7.0 (6.4) | 6.7 (6.2) |
| Quality of life (SF-36) physical summary scale | 43.2 (8.9) | 47.0 (10.2) | 48.0 (10.3) | 48.0 (10.2) | 48.1 (10.3) | 48.0 (10.4) | 48.1 (10.4) | 48.1 (10.1) | 48.7 (9.8) |
| Quality of life (SF-36) mental summary scale | 49.6 (10.3) | 49.5 (10.0) | 49.9 (9.4) | 49.7 (9.6) | 50.1 (9.4) | 49.1 (10.3) | 49.5 (9.7) | 49.5 (9.9) | 48.9 (10.1) |
| Recovery, n (%) | N/A | 239 (38) | 243 (40) | 220 (38) | 228 (39) | 195 (39) | 177 (41) | 166 (42) | 170 (43) |
| Medical consumption, n (%) | |||||||||
| Use of medication for back pain | 485 (72) | 245 (39) | 205 (33) | 196 (34) | 178 (30) | 157 (31) | 138 (32) | 116 (30) | 98 (25) |
| Paracetamol | 236 (49) | 126 (51) | 116 (57) | 121 (62) | 109 (61) | 79 (50) | 80 (58) | 71 (61) | 56 (57) |
| NSAIDs | 277 (57) | 106 (43) | 89 (43) | 78 (40) | 65 (37) | 63 (40) | 52 (38) | 45 (39) | 44 (45) |
| Opioids | 82 (17) | 51 (21) | 35 (17) | 31 (16) | 31 (17) | 42 (27) | 38 (28) | 26 (22) | 25 (26) |
| Muscle relaxants, sleep medication | 37 (8) | 11 (4) | 12 (6) | 4 (2) | 5 (3) | 3 (2) | 4 (3) | 7 (6) | 0 (0) |
| Antidepressants | 5 (1) | 7 (3) | 4 (2) | 4 (2) | 4 (2) | 6 (4) | 6 (4) | 4 (3) | 1 (1) |
| Antiepileptics | 4 (1) | 4 (2) | 5 (2) | 6 (3) | 5 (3) | 1 (1) | 4 (3) | 2 (2) | 5 (5) |
| Other | 10 (2) | 10 (4) | 7 (3) | 10 (5) | 8 (4) | 7 (4) | 5 (4) | 6 (5) | 7 (7) |
| Care from healthcare professionals | |||||||||
| Care from a GP | N/A | 161 (26) | 75 (12) | 68 (12) | 57 (10) | 71 (14) | 34 (8) | 38 (10) | 37 (9) |
| Care from a physical therapist | 299 (44) | 220 (35) | 145 (24) | 105 (18) | 103 (17) | 92 (18) | 79 (18) | 61 (16) | 57 (15) |
| Care from a medical specialist | 46 (7) | 68 (11) | 56 (9) | 49 (8) | 45 (8) | 40 (8) | 32 (7) | 25 (6) | 25 (6) |
| Examinations related to back complaints | |||||||||
| X-ray | N/A | 183 (29) | 57 (9) | 39 (7) | 30 (5) | 37 (7) | 20 (5) | 17 (4) | 18 (5) |
| Blood tests | 92 (14) | 82 (13) | 46 (8) | 34 (6) | 26 (4) | 32 (6) | 25 (6) | 29 (7) | 25 (6) |
| MRI/CT | 30 (4) | 42 (7) | 41 (7) | 25 (4) | 27 (5) | 29 (6) | 23 (5) | 15 (4) | 16 (4) |
↵* Due to missing values (range, 0% to 15%) these numbers may vary for different questions. NRS, numeric rating scale (range, 0 to 10); RMDQ, Roland Morris disability questionnaire (range, 0 to 24); SF-36, Short Form-36, physical and mental summary scale (range, 0 to 100); SD, standard deviation; NSAIDs, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; GP, general practitioners MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; CT, computed tomography. Percentages: % from total number of participants; except for the different types of pain medication: % of total amount of pain medication users.