Table 3.
Healthcare utilization throughout 1 year of follow-up (n=438)
| 0–3 months | >3–6 months | >9–12 months | ||||
| Missing, n (%) |
Missing, n (%) |
Missing, n (%) |
||||
| Primary care | ||||||
| Primary care consultation, N (%) | 79 (18) | 87 (20) | 108 (24) | |||
| General practitioner | 44 (12) | 30 (9) | 22 (7) | |||
| Physiotherapist | 119 (33) | 70 (20) | 48 (15) | |||
| Chiropractor | 124 (35) | 76 (22) | 50 (15) | |||
| Manual therapist | 22 (6) | 5 (1) | 7 (2) | |||
| Naprapath | 6 (2) | 11 (3) | 6 (2) | |||
| Osteopath | 2 (0.6) | 1 (0.3) | 3 (1) | |||
| Psychologist | 0 (0) | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.3) | |||
| Other therapists | 10 (3) | 12 (3) | 7 (2) | |||
| No primary care consultations | 93 (26) | 179 (51) | 212 (64) | |||
| Numbers of consultations, median (IQR)* | ||||||
| General practitioner | 1 (1–2) | 0 (0) | 1 (1–2) | 0 (0) | 1 (1–3) | 0 (0) |
| Physiotherapist | 4 (2–8) | 0 (0) | 4 (2–10) | 2 (3) | 5 (1–9) | 0 (0) |
| Chiropractor | 4 (2–6) | 0 (0) | 2 (1–4) | 4 (5) | 3 (1–5) | 0 (0) |
| Manual therapist | 3 (1–5) | 0 (0) | 3 (2–14) | 0 (0) | 1 (1–4) | 0 (0) |
| Naprapath | 3 (1–5) | 0 (0) | 4 (2–6) | 0 (0) | 3 (1–4) | 0 (0) |
| Osteopath | 3 (2-) | 0 (0) | 2 (2–2) | 0 (0) | 10 (2-) | 0 (0) |
| Psychologist | – | – | 1 (1–1) | 0 (0) | 7 (7–7) | 0 (0) |
| Other consultations | 4 (1–6) | 0 (0) | 1 (1–8) | 0 (0) | 4 (2–8) | 1 (14) |
| Medication | ||||||
| Use of back medication, N (%) | 80 (18) | 96 (22) | 114 (26) | |||
| Paracetamol | 124 (35) | 91 (27) | 86 (27) | |||
| NSAID | 86 (24) | 75 (22) | 64 (20) | |||
| Muscle relaxants | 6 (2) | 4 (1) | 3 (1) | |||
| Sleep medication | 22 (6) | 22 (6) | 13 (4) | |||
| Cortisone | 5 (1) | 9 (3) | 4 (1) | |||
| Opioid | 5 (1) | 5 (2) | 3 (1) | |||
| No use of back medication | 197 (55) | 213 (62) | 213 (66) | |||
| Frequency of use paracetamol, N (%)** | ||||||
| Daily | 46 (37) | 0 (0) | 32 (35) | 0 (0) | 30 (35) | 0 (0) |
| Weekly | 35 (28) | 0 (0) | 30 (33) | 0 (0) | 28 (33) | 0 (0) |
| Monthly or less | 43 (35) | 0 (0) | 29 (32) | 0 (0) | 28 (32) | 0 (0) |
| Frequency of use NSAID, N (%)† | ||||||
| Daily | 22 (26) | 0 (0) | 16 (21) | 0 (0) | 17 (26) | 0 (0) |
| Weekly | 14 (16) | 0 (0) | 25 (33) | 0 (0) | 19 (30) | 0 (0) |
| Monthly or less | 50 (58) | 0 (0) | 34 (46) | 0 (0) | 28 (44) | 0 (0) |
| Frequency of use opioid, N (%)† | ||||||
| Daily | 3 (60) | 0 (0) | 4 (80) | 0 (0) | 2 (67) | 0 (0) |
| Weekly | 1 (20) | 0 (0) | – | – | – | – |
| Monthly or less | 1 (20) | 0 (0) | 1 (20) | 0 (0) | 1 (33) | 0 (0) |
| Examination | ||||||
| Diagnostic examination, N (%) | 79 (18) | 86 (20) | 106 (24) | |||
| Blood sample | 9 (3) | 5 (1) | 6 (2) | |||
| X-ray | 12 (3) | 8 (2) | 16 (5) | |||
| MRI | 37 (10) | 17 (5) | 20 (6) | |||
| CT | 4 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | |||
| No diagnostic examination | 281 (77) | 316 (89) | 289 (87) | |||
| Secondary care | ||||||
| Back operation, N (%) | – | – | – | – | 7 (2) | 103 (24) |
| Hospitalisation, N (%) | 5 (1) | 75 (17) | 6 (2) | 84 (19) | 2 (1) | 104 (24) |
| Duration of stay in days, median (range) | 1 (1–2) | 0 (0) | 3 (2–5) | 1 (17) | 2.5 (2-) | 0 (0) |
| Rehabilitation stay, N (%) | 0 (0) | 73 (17) | 1 (0.3) | 84 (19) | 1 (0.3) | 104 (24) |
| Duration of stay in days, median (range) | – | – | 20 (20–20) | 0 (0) | 7 (7–7) | 0 (0) |
Cells marked with a dash (-) indicate that the variable was not reported.
*Numbers of consultations are calculated on the basis of patients who have reported primary care consultations.
†Frequency of back medication use is calculated on the basis of patients who have reported back medication use.
NSAID, non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drug.