Table I.
Demographic characteristics, chronic comorbid conditions, and health care resource utilization of patients with lower back pain using and not using narcotics. Values are % of patients.
| Parameter | Narcotic Users (n = 6171) |
Narcotic Nonusers (n = 7589) |
All Patients (N = 13,760) |
P* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | ||||
| 18–<41 y | 27 | 30 | 29 | <0.001 |
| 41–<56 y | 50 | 48 | 49 | 0.022 |
| 56–<65 y | 23 | 22 | 23 | 0.118 |
| Female sex | 61 | 59 | 60 | 0.080 |
| Comorbid condition† | ||||
| Hypertension | 23 | 13 | 18 | <0.001 |
| Arthritis | 14 | 4 | 9 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 10 | 6 | 8 | <0.001 |
| Depression | 10 | 5 | 8 | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 7 | 4 | 6 | <0.001 |
| Anxiety disorder | 6 | 3 | 4 | <0.001 |
| Coronary artery disease | 5 | 2 | 4 | <0.001 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 3 | 1 | 2 | <0.001 |
| Arrhythmia | 2 | 1 | 2 | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 2 | 1 | 1 | <0.001 |
| Osteoporosis‡ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.002 |
| Congestive heart failure | 1 | 0 | 1 | <0.001 |
| Ulcer | 1 | 0 | 1 | <0.001 |
| Other§ | 10 | 5 | 7 | <0.001 |
| Injury∥ | 30 | 18 | 24 | <0.001 |
| Pregnancy∥ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.023 |
| Health care resource utilization∥ | ||||
| Physical therapy | 40 | 35 | 38 | <0.001 |
| Emergency department | 36 | 15 | 24 | <0.001 |
| MRI | 31 | 13 | 21 | <0.001 |
| Chiropractic services | 21 | 39 | 31 | <0.001 |
| Epidural | 20 | 6 | 12 | <0.001 |
| Surgery | 8 | 1 | 4 | <0.001 |
MRI = magnetic resonance imaging.
*
χ2 Test.
†
Some patients had >1 comorbid condition; therefore, comorbid conditions were not mutually exclusive.
‡
Osteoporosis rate was 1.0% in patients with LBP using narcotics and was 0.6% in patients with LBP not using narcotic drugs.
§
Included genetic disease, seizure, dementia, otitis media, sickle cell disease, urinary tract infection, irritable bowel syndrome, and HIV.
∥
Identified only during the study period.