Table 1. Characteristics of Medicare Patients According to Whether They Visited a Primary Care Physician for Back and/or Neck Pain
No PCP Visit for Back and/or Neck PainVisited any PCP for Back and/or Neck PainVisited for Back and/or Neck Pain, By PCP Specialty
Family Medicine PCPInternal Medicine PCP
National estimates, n in millions
    Patients14.73.01.41.7
    Visits for back and/or neck pain0.05.92.73.2
    Estimated expenditures on back and/or neck pain*0.01,345.2615.6729.6
Patient characteristics
    Mean age, years (SD)76.4 (7.2)76.6 (7.1)76.1 (7.0)77.0 (7.1)
    Sex, n in millions (%)
        Female8.5 (57.7)2.0 (65.1)0.9 (64.1)1.1 (66.2)
        Male6.2 (42.3)1.1 (34.9)0.5 (35.9)0.6 (33.8)
    Race, n in millions (%)
        Non-Hispanic white13.1 (88.6)2.7 (87.9)1.3 (89.4)1.5 (86.6)
        Non-Hispanic black1.0 (6.8)0.2 (6.4)0.1 (5.5)0.1 (7.0)
        Other0.7 (4.6)0.2 (5.6)0.1 (5.0)0.1 (6.3)
        Unknown0.0 (0.1)0.0 (0.1)0.0 (0.1)0.0 (0.1)
    Rurality of residence, n in millions (%)
        Urban8.5 (57.9)1.8 (59.1)0.7 (50.2)1.1 (66.6)
        Rural3.8 (25.7)0.8 (25.3)0.5 (32.0)0.3 (19.7)
        Unknown2.4 (16.4)0.5 (15.6)0.3 (17.8)0.2 (13.7)
    Charlson score, n in millions (%)
        07.7 (52.0)1.5 (49.1)0.7 (50.6)0.8 (47.6)
        12.4 (16.5)0.5 (16.7)0.2 (16.7)0.3 (16.7)
        21.9 (12.8)0.4 (13.9)0.2 (13.4)0.2 (14.4)
        ≥32.8 (18.7)0.6 (20.3)0.3 (19.3)0.4 (21.4)
        Unknown0.0 (0.0)0.0 (0.0)0.0 (0.0)0.0 (0.0)
  • All differences between those who did and did not visit any primary care physician (PCP) for back and/or neck pain are highly significant at P <.001; the t test was used to compare means and the χ2 test was used to compare proportions.

  • * Calculated by multiplying total visits by estimated cost per visit of $228.26

  • PCP, primary care physician; SD, standard deviation.