Table 1.
Characteristics of 979,223 patients who presented for the first time with low back pain by receipt of early physical therapy, from the Truven MarketScan database (2010–2014)
| Characteristics | N (%) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early PT, n = 110,834 | No Early PT, n = 868,389 | ||
| Age, yr | 46 ± 11a | 47 ± 11a | < 0.001 |
| Female sex | 56,186 (51) | 488,903 (56) | < 0.001 |
| CCI value | |||
| 0 | 108,718 (98) | 845,055 (97) | < 0.001 |
| 1 | 2055 (1.8) | 22,488 (2.6) | |
| > 2 | 61 (0.06) | 846 (0.1) | |
| Employment status | |||
| Full-time | 54,741 (49) | 421,312 (48) | < 0.001 |
| Part-time | 1124 (1.0) | 7679 (0.88) | |
| Early retiree | 6259 (5.6) | 47,675 (5.5) | |
| Otherb | 48,710 (44) | 391,723 (45) | |
CCI Charlson Comorbidity Index, PT physical therapy
aReported as mean ± standard deviation
bIncludes Medicare-eligible retiree, retiree, COBRA continuee, long-term disability recipient, surviving spouse, unknown