Table 2.
Percentage of patients who received prescription drug therapy and imaging procedures as a function of prescribing physician specialty
PCP (%) | Orthopedist (%) | Pain management (%) | Chiropractor/PT (%) | Acute care (%) | Other/missing (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Referred cohorta | ||||||
Prescription drugs | ||||||
NSAIDs | 46.2 | 19.0 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 7.8 | 19.4 |
DMARDs | 47.3 | 8.3 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 8.3 | 26.3 |
Corticosteroids | 58.1 | 13.1 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 13.8 |
Opiates | 49.4 | 22.6 | 6.4 | 3.8 | 6.4 | 11.4 |
Anti-TNFc | 40.0 | 12.0 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 8.0 | 33.3 |
Imaging | ||||||
X-ray | 22.5 | 12.0 | 2.6 | 8.3 | 22.9 | 31.7 |
CT scan | 28.4 | 5.2 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 45.9 | 13.5 |
MRI | 25.7 | 13.1 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 28.1 | 18.6 |
Non-referred cohortb | ||||||
Prescription drugs | ||||||
NSAIDs | 55.4 | 16.6 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 14.7 |
DMARDs | 65.1 | 8.1 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 15.3 |
Corticosteroids | 62.3 | 12.1 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 5.8 | 13.7 |
Opiates | 51.9 | 21.7 | 6.4 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 12.4 |
Anti-TNFc | 59.5 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 21.6 |
Imaging | ||||||
X-ray | 39.5 | 17.5 | 4.6 | 11.4 | 14.2 | 12.8 |
CT scan | 31.0 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 2.5 | 37.5 | 16.0 |
MRI | 32.6 | 10.0 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 25.9 | 18.0 |
Analysis includes all patients who received a given therapy or procedure (total of 100 % for each category)
CT computed tomography, DMARDs disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, MRI magnetic resonance imaging, NSAIDs non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, PT physical therapist, TNF tumor necrosis factor
aFor the referred cohort, data represent the year prior to rheumatologist referral
bFor the non-referred cohort, data represent the year prior to AS diagnosis
cAnti-TNF use was reported in 5.9 % of the total population