Table 2.
MHS Chronic Pain Categories and Exposure to Nonpharmacological Treatments in the MHS Among U.S. Army Service Members Who Used VHA Services (N = 142,539)
| NPT, number (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic pain category* | No (n = 24,810) | Yes (n = 117,729) | Total |
| Peripheral and central nervous system disorders | 361 (1.5) | 5065 (4.3) | 5426 (3.8) |
| Osteoarthritis | 426 (1.7) | 5929 (5.0) | 6355 (4.5) |
| Back and neck disorders | 5376 (21.7) | 62,862 (53.4) | 68,238 (47.9) |
| Headaches and migraines | 2512 (10.1) | 18,680 (15.9) | 21,192 (14.9) |
| Nontraumatic joint disorders | 7022 (28.3) | 66,127 (56.2) | 73,149 (51.3) |
| Other musculoskeletal disorders | 8000 (32.2) | 54,131 (46.0) | 62,131 (43.6) |
| Visceral and pelvic disorders | 2492 (10.0) | 9361 (8.0) | 11,853 (8.3) |
| Wounds and injuries | 1569 (6.3) | 9834 (8.4) | 11,403 (8.0) |
| Acute and post-operative diagnoses, trauma | 71 (0.3) | 1133 (1.0) | 1204 (0.8) |
| Other diagnoses associated with pain | 6 (0.0) | 187 (0.2) | 193 (0.1) |
| Chronic pain by ICD definition | 4627 (18.6) | 40,619 (34.5) | 45,246 (31.7) |
| > 60 days opioids in any quarter | 2348 (17.4) | 14,336 (12.2) | 16,684 (11.7) |
| > 90 days opioids in any year | 2771 (11.2) | 17,503 (14.9) | 20,274 (14.2) |
MHS Military Health System, NPT nonpharmacological treatment, ICD International Classification of Diseases
*Categories are not mutually exclusive and based on each service member’s observation window in the MHS after their index deployment