Table 2.
Proportion of Clinical Encounters Indicative of Escalation of Care
| Primary Cohorts | Crossover Cohorts | Combined Cohorts | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||
| Cohort | SMT | OAT | SMTX | OATX | SMTC | OATC | |
| N | 4,998 | 20,947 | 1,431 | 784 | 6,429 | 21,731 | 28,160 |
| Encounters [n (%)] | |||||||
| Secondary Care Encounter for Primary Diagnosis of LBP | |||||||
| Any Secondary Care Encounter | 2,563 (51.3) | 19,488 (93.0) | 1,189 (83.1) | 542 (69.1) | 3,752 (58.4) | 20,030 (92.2) | 23,782 |
| Hospitalization | 38 (0.8) | 1,026 (4.9) | 50 (3.5) | 18 (2.3) | 88 (1.4) | 1,044 (4.8) | 1,132 |
| Injections and other interventional procedures | 509 (10.2) | 10,348 (49.4) | 575 (40.2) | 179 (22.8) | 1,084 (16.9) | 10,527 (48.4) | 11,611 |
| Advanced Diagnostic Imaging | 740 (14.8) | 9,426 (45.0 | 594 (41.5) | 217 (27.7) | 1,334 (20.7) | 9,643 (44.4) | 10,977 |
| Specialist Visit | 967 (19.3) | 16,493 (78.7) | 802 (56.0) | 307 (39.2) | 1,769 (27.5) | 16,800 (77.3) | 18,569 |
| Emergency Department Visit | 229 (4.6) | 4,787 (22.9) | 201 (14.0) | 59 (7.5) | 430 (6.7 | 4,846 (22.3) | 5,276 |
| Potential Complications of LBP | |||||||
| Encounter for Same -level Fall with Trauma | 1,192 (23.8) | 12,676 (60.5) | 702 (49.1) | 282 (36.0) | 1,894 (29.5) | 12,958 (59.6) | 14,852 |
| Encounter for Spinal Injury | 920 (18.4) | 2,514 (12.0) | 279 (19.5) | 144 (18.4) | 1,199 (18.6) | 2,658 (12.2) | 3,857 |
Notes: SMT = subjects who initiated SMT in 2013 for long-term management of cLBP, with no concurrent OAT; OAT = subjects who initiated OAT in 2013 for long-term management of cLBP, with no concurrent SMT; SMTX = subjects with any occurrence of SMT in 2013, followed by initiation in 2013 of OAT for long-term management of cLBP; OATX = subjects with any occurrence of OAT in 2013, followed by initiation in 2013 of SMT for long-term management of cLBP; SMTC = combination of primary and crossover cohorts, in which all patients chose SMT as the initial treatment; OATC = combination of primary and crossover cohorts, in which all patients chose OAT as the initial treatment; n = number of subjects; Secondary care encounters = patient visits for primary diagnosis of LBP, identified by Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code; Trauma = Head injury or Hip Fracture; Spinal Injury = sprain, dislocation, or fracture of the lumbosacral spine