Table 4.
Crude annual direct health care costs and productivity costs (CAD dollars) per patient
| Mean (SD) | All patients (n=483) | Patients stratified by level of pain disability
|
P-values | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild disabilitya (n=165) | Moderate disabilityb (n=160) | Severe disabilityc (n=158) | |||
| Direct health care costs | |||||
| Hospitalizations | |||||
| All hospitalization costs, except physician visits | 1,908 (9,877) | 1,148 (5,849) | 3,117 (15,080) | 1,480 (5,583) | 0.021 |
| Pain-related hospitalization costs | 1,102 (8,304) | 739 (5,555) | 1,763 (12,610) | 810 (4,213) | 0.043 |
| General practitioner visits | 14 (98) | 9 (47) | 13 (91) | 22 (137) | 0.004 |
| Specialist visits | 114 (321) | 106 (307) | 138 (380) | 99 (267) | 0.508 |
| Total costs | 2,036 (10,137) | 1,262 (6,053) | 3,266 (15,404) | 1,600 (5,878) | 0.030 |
| Emergency room visits | |||||
| Emergency room costs | 250 (481) | 179 (369) | 267 (553) | 308 (498) | 0.150 |
| General practitioner visits | 8 (44) | 5 (33) | 6 (42) | 13 (55) | 0.001 |
| Specialist visits | 62 (289) | 43 (260) | 65 (262) | 78 (341) | 0.455 |
| Total costs | 320 (686) | 227 (528) | 338 (753) | 399 (752) | 0.148 |
| Outpatient medical consultations | |||||
| Primary care visits | 231 (247) | 211 (205) | 204 (233) | 278 (291) | 0.129 |
| Specialist visits | 163 (240) | 137 (195) | 144 (222) | 209 (290) | 0.094 |
| All outpatient tests and interventions | 145 (170) | 132 (163) | 149 (186) | 152 (161) | 0.699 |
| Pain-related tests and interventions | 66 (102) | 50 (80) | 75 (116) | 72 (105) | 0.115 |
| Total costs | 604 (541) | 531 (437) | 573 (561) | 712 (602) | 0.048 |
| Complementary health care provider visits | |||||
| Psychotherapists | 257 (1,276) | 160 (902) | 279 (1,400) | 335 (1,466) | 0.103 |
| Physiotherapists | 2,337 (5,231) | 1,818 (4,382) | 2,626 (5,688) | 2,586 (5,546) | 0.528 |
| Massage therapists | 781 (2,830) | 521 (1,992) | 873 (2,876) | 959 (3,457) | 0.181 |
| Occupational therapists | 343 (1,944) | 281 (1,937) | 405 (1,861) | 345 (2,043) | 0.607 |
| Acupuncturists | 249 (1,235) | 274 (1,153) | 243 (1,077) | 230 (1,455) | 0.875 |
| Osteopaths | 339 (1,426) | 507 (1,801) | 288 (1,326) | 216 (1,011) | 0.043 |
| Chiropractors | 198 (899) | 299 (1,131) | 108 (587) | 185 (880) | 0.013 |
| Total costs | 4,505 (8,115) | 3,860 (6,706) | 4,822 (8,599) | 4,856 (8,924) | 0.640 |
| Prescribed analgesics and medication to treat side effects of medication | 1,963 (2,978) | 1,304 (1,728) | 1,979 (3,029) | 2,635 (3,728) | <0.001 |
| Over-the-counter analgesics and medication to treat side effects | 136 (601) | 150 (709) | 150 (708) | 108 (275) | 0.341 |
| Total direct health care costs | 9,565 (13,993) | 7,334 (9,276) | 11,128 (19,131) | 10,311 (11,501) | 0.008 |
| Productivity costs | |||||
| Absenteeism | 5,052 (9,429) | 3,068 (7,677) | 5,084 (9,743) | 7,091 (10,339) | 0.082 |
| Presenteeism | 2,020 (6,013) | 1,455 (4,027) | 3,171 (7,804) | 1,445 (5,511) | 0.057 |
| Total productivity costs | 7,072 (11,716) | 4,523 (8,951) | 8,254 (13,386) | 8,536 (12,077) | 0.158 |
| Total overall costs | 16,636 (19,182) | 11,857 (13,685) | 19,382 (23,228) | 18,847 (18,734) | <0.001 |
Notes:
a
Patients in the first BPI tertile (scores ranging from 0–4.3)
b
patients in the second BPI tertile (scores ranging from 4.31–6.4)
c
patients in the third BPI tertile (scores ranging from 6.41–10.0).
Abbreviations: CAD, Canadian; SD, standard deviation; n, number; BPI, Brief Pain Inventory.