Table 2.
Service utilization and its costs in 695 patients followed 2 years after lumbar spinal fusion
| Service utilization | Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary health care sector | ||
| Contacts to | ||
| GPs | 20 (17;23) | 234 (200;276) |
| Specialist doctors | 2 (1;2) | 48 (36;62) |
| Physiotherapists | 11 (8;14) | 86 (59;118) |
| Psychologists | 0 (0;0) | 4 (1;8) |
| Chiropractors | 0 (0;0) | 2 (1;3) |
| Medication | 64 (59;70) | 1,037 (924;1,167) |
| Transportation | 3 (3;3) | 502 (488;517) |
| Total primary health care | 1,895 (1,760;2,047) | |
| Secondary health care sector (hospitals and outpatient clinics) | ||
| Related to back pain | ||
| Index surgery | 1 | 9,240 (9,113;9,363) |
| Revision surgery | 0.1 (0.1;0.1) | 797 (609;1,004) |
| Other admissions | 0.5 (0.4;0.6) | 2,246 (1,925;2,587) |
| Outpatient clinic | 5.3 (5.0;5.6) | 1,183 (1,101;1,276) |
| Related to comorbidity | ||
| Surgery | 0.4 (0.4;0.5) | 1,972 (1,669;2,308) |
| Other admissions | 0.4 (0.3;0.5) | 2,226 (1,639;2,968) |
| Outpatient clinic | 5.3 (5.0;5.6) | 648 (555;760) |
| Total secondary health care | 18,312 (17,408;19,291) | |
| Patients’ costs | ||
| Over the counter medicationa | N/A | 58 |
| Complementary medicinea | 11 | 325 |
| Transportation | 42 (40;44) | 4,004 (3,824;4,212) |
| Family time/paid helpb | 484 | 15,991 |
| Total patients’ costs | 16,416 (16,405;16,428) | |
| Productivity costs | ||
| Friction cost method | 20 (17;24) | 2,314 (1,953;2,709) |
| Human capital method | 569 (535;602) | 55,341 (51,967;58,872) |
| Total costs of spinal fusionc | 38,937 (37,942;40,015) | |
Values are number of services (95% CI) and mean discounted 2004-EUR (95% CI) [Bootstrapped, bias-corrected confidence intervals (10,000 replications)]
aEstimated from the literature, Riviero-Arias et al. [22]
bEstimated from the literature, Fritzell et al. [12]
cWith inclusion of productivity costs estimated by the Friction cost valuation method