Table 2.
Characteristics of study cohort
| Study population# n | Total study cohort n (%) | Low back* n (%) | Neck* n (%) | Shoulder* n (%) | Knee* n (%) | Multi-site^ n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients | 1,294,021 | 133,279 (100) | 65,612 (49.2) | 8,974 (6.7) | 18,253 (13.7) | 25,264 (19.0) | 15,176 (11.4) |
| Age at diagnosis in years | |||||||
| 18–44 | 694,705 (53.7) | 30,139 (22.6) | 29,977 (45.7) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 162 (1.07) |
| 45–54 | 192,397 (14.9) | 29,215 (21.9) | 11,153 (17.0) | 3,025 (33.7) | 5,345 (29.3) | 5,900 (23.4) | 3,792 (25.0) |
| 55–64 | 170,122 (13.1) | 28,689 (21.6) | 9,313 (14.2) | 2,492 (27.8) | 5,328 (29.2) | 7,312 (28.9) | 4,244 (28.0) |
| 65–74 | 130,085 (10.1) | 24,563 (18.4) | 7,554 (11.5) | 1,913 (21.3) | 4,269 (23.4) | 7,014 (27.8) | 3,813 (25.1) |
| 75–84 | 72,814 (5.6) | 14,947 (11.2) | 5,165 (7.9) | 1,127 (12.6) | 2,398 (13.1) | 3,841 (15.2) | 2,416 (15.9) |
| 85 + | 33,898 (2.6) | 5,726 (4.3) | 2,450 (3.7) | 417 (4.6) | 913 (5.0) | 1,197 (4.7) | 749 (4.9) |
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 554,598 (42.9) | 59,692 (44.8) | 30,513 (46.5) | 3,670 (40.9) | 8,170 (44.8) | 11,124 (44.0) | 6,215 (41.0) |
| Female | 734,789 (56.8) | 73,460 (55.1) | 35,009 (53.4) | 5,297 (59.0) | 10,075 (55.2) | 14,121 (55.9) | 8,958 (59.0) |
| (Missing) | 4,634 (0.4) | 127 (0.1) | 90 (0.1) | 7 (0.1) | 8 (0.04) | 19 (0.08) | 3 (0.02) |
| Remoteness | |||||||
| Metropolitan | 1,143,398 (88.4) | 116,064 (87.1) | 57,253 (87.3) | 7,883 (87.8) | 15,920 (87.2) | 21,690 (85.9) | 13,318 (87.8) |
| Inner regional | 123,801 (9.6) | 14,256 (10.7) | 7,048 (10.7) | 885 (9.9) | 1,906 (10.4) | 2,840 (11.2) | 1,577 (10.4) |
| Outer regional | 20,024 (1.5) | 2,507 (1.9) | 1,072 (1.7) | 180 (2.0) | 373 (2.0) | 646 (2.6) | 236 (1.6) |
| Remote | 666 (0.05) | 53 (0.04) | 22 (0.03) | 5 (0.06) | 5 (0.03) | 14 (0.06) | 7 (0.05) |
| Very remote | 126 (<0.01) | 7 (<0.01) | 3 (<0.01) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (<0.01) | 2 (<0.01) | 1 (<0.01) |
| (Missing) | 6,006 (0.5) | 329 (0.3) | 214 (0.3) | 21 (0.2) | 48 (0.3) | 72 (0.3) | 37 (0.2) |
| Socioeconomic disadvantage | |||||||
| Quintile 1† | 122,617 (9.5) | 14,685 (11.0) | 7,826 (11.9) | 900 (10.0) | 1,700 (9.3) | 2,473 (9.8) | 1,786 (11.8) |
| Quintile 2 | 156,170 (12.1) | 18,196 (13.7) | 9,337 (14.2) | 1,052 (11.7) | 2,365 (13.0) | 3,403 (13.4) | 2,039 (13.4) |
| Quintile 3 | 195,170 (15.1) | 23,039 (17.3) | 11,156 (17.0) | 1,520 (17.0) | 3,240 (17.7) | 4,326 (17.1) | 2,797 (18.4) |
| Quintile 4 | 328,456 (25.4) | 34,167 (25.6) | 16,969 (25.9) | 2,198 (24.5) | 4,736 (25.9) | 6,358 (25.2) | 3,906 (25.7) |
| Quintile 5 | 484,662 (37.5) | 42,786 (32.1) | 20,102 (30.7) | 3,283 (36.6) | 6,161 (33.8) | 8,632 (34.2) | 4,608 (30.4) |
| (Missing) | 6,195 (0.5) | 406 (0.3) | 222 (0.3) | 21 (0.2) | 51 (0.3) | 72 (0.3) | 40 (0.3) |
| Comorbidity | |||||||
| At least 1 comorbidity | 480,951 (37.2) | 83,816 (62.9) | 36,178 (55.1) | 5,679 (63.3) | 11,916 (65.3) | 17,051 (67.5) | 12,992 (85.6) |
| Cancer | 29,582 (2.3) | 6,759 (5.1) | 2,401 (3.7) | 525 (5.9) | 1,193 (6.5) | 1,717 (6.8) | 923 (6.1) |
| Cardiovascular | 219,987 (17.0) | 43,628 (32.7) | 15,150 (23.1) | 3,219 (35.9) | 7,134 (39.1) | 10,656 (42.2) | 7,469 (49.2) |
| Dementia | 8,041 (0.6) | 1,188 (0.9) | 501 (0.8) | 79 (0.9) | 191 (1.1) | 256 (1.0) | 161 (1.1) |
| Depression/anxiety | 209,727 (16.2) | 33,422 (25.1) | 16,527 (25.2) | 2,264 (25.2) | 4,095 (22.4) | 5,164 (20.4) | 5,372 (35.4) |
| Diabetes | 75,465 (5.8) | 13,939 (10.5) | 4,947 (7.5) | 926 (10.3) | 2,522 (13.8) | 3,152 (12.5) | 2,392 (15.9) |
| Musculoskeletal | 101,101 (7.8) | 36,475 (27.4) | 15,438 (23.5) | 1,925 (21.5) | 4,300 (23.6) | 6,373 (25.2) | 8,439 (55.6) |
| Obesity | 38,475 (3.0) | 8,624 (6.5) | 3,756 (5.7) | 436 (4.9) | 991 (5.4) | 1,859 (7.4) | 1,582 (10.4) |
| Respiratory | 19,893 (1.5) | 4,927 (3.7) | 2,050 (3.1) | 399 (4.5) | 710 (3.9) | 859 (3.4) | 909 (6.0) |
| GP consultations during follow-up, n (% within 1 year of diagnosis) | 13,255,803 (42.7) | 2,295,769 (40.8) | 962,558 (43.9) | 142,937 (42.6) | 294,971 (42.0) | 407,309 (40.7) | 487,994 (33.5) |
| All-cause GP consultations per patient in 1st year post diagnosis, median (IQR) | 4 (2–8) | 7 (4–12) | 6 (3–12) | 7 (4–12) | 7 (4–12) | 7 (4–12) | 11 (6–17) |
| Age at diagnosis in years, mean (SD) | 45.0 (18.9) | 56.5 (17.0) | 49.2 (18.5) | 61.9 (12.0) | 62.8 (11.8) | 64.2 (11.5) | 63.9 (11.9) |
| Follow-up period in years, median (IQR) | 3.2 (1.6–4.6) | 2.3 (1.0–3.7) | 2.2 (1.0–3.6) | 2.1 (0.9–3.5) | 2.1 (1.0–3.5) | 2.2 (1.0–3.7) | 3.2 (1.9–4.2) |
All data presented as n (%) except where stated otherwise
# Study population includes adult patients (aged 18 years and over) who received at least one face-to-face consultation with a GP between 1/01/2014 and 31/12/2018
* Single body region affected by musculoskeletal complaint
^ Multiple body regions affected by an eligible musculoskeletal complaint
† A low score indicates relatively greater disadvantage