Specific Primary Care Physician Orders Within the First 21 Days from Initial Visit in 4073 Patients with Acute Low Back Pain
| Orders | Clusters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Pharm & 1st Line Pharm | 2nd Line Pharm | Imaging | Specialty | |
| Non-Pharmacologic | ||||
| Physical Therapy | 934 (52) | 464 (32) | 200 (38) | 42 (16) |
| Other* | 24 (1) | 16 (1) | 5 (1) | 1 (0) |
| 1st Line Pharmacologic | ||||
| Acetaminophen | 55 (3) | 11 (1) | 0 | 4 (1) |
| Muscle relaxant | 940 (52) | 747 (51) | 0 | 75 (28) |
| NSAID | 933 (52) | 360 (24) | 0 | 69 (26) |
| 2nd Line Pharmacologic | ||||
| Benzodiazepine | 0 | 96 (7) | 17 (3) | 11 (4) |
| Opioid | 0 | 655 (45) | 93 (18) | 94 (35) |
| Steroid | 0 | 913 (62) | 12 (2) | 91 (34) |
| Antidepressant | 0 | 144 (10) | 11 (2) | 15 (6) |
| Imaging | ||||
| MRI or CT Scan | 22 (1) | 55 (4) | 98 (19) | 43 (16) |
| Radiography | 248 (14) | 210 (14) | 434 (83) | 51 (19) |
| Specialty | ||||
| Neurology or PM&R | 14 (1) | 0 | 3 (1) | 118 (44) |
| Spine surgery | 25 (1) | 0 | 12 (2) | 161 (60) |
Notes. All values are n (%) where n is the number of patients who received the order within that cluster.
↵*Includes chiropractic, behavioral health, coaching, mind-body therapies, pain management, social work.
Abbreviations: NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; CT, computed tomography; PM&R, physical medicine and rehabilitation.