Introduction
Methods
Study population and design
Outcome measures
Dependent variables: health-related quality of life, societal costs, and healthcare costs
Independent variables: pain severity and disability
Potential confounding factors
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Patient expectations (Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire [CEQ] [41]; range 0—least credibility/expectancy to 100—more credibility/expectancy).
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Pain severity (Numeric Pain Rating Scale [NPRS]; range 0—no pain to 100—worst pain imaginable) [33]. For the purpose of this study, scores were transformed to 0–100. (In the analyses in which disability and health-related quality of life were included).
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Health-related quality of life (EuroQol [EQ-5D-3L]; range 0—equal to death 1—equal to full health) [43].
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Education level (low/moderate/high). Low-indicates, no education, primary level education, lower vocational and lower secondary education, moderate-indicates higher secondary education or undergraduate, high-indicates tertiary education university or postgraduate).
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Body Mass Index ([BMI], weight in kg/(height in meters)2).
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Employment (yes/no).
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Recurrent complaints (yes/no).
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Age (years).
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Gender (male/female).
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Nationality (Dutch/non-Dutch).
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Smoking (yes/no).
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Type of health care insurance (basic/additional).
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Region of residence (south/north/east/west).
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Married/living together yes/no).
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Diagnosis (sacroiliac joint (SI)/facet/disc/combined/unclear).
Statistical analysis
Results
Participants
Participant characteristic | All patients (n = 6316) |
---|---|
Age (years) [mean (SD)] | 57.2 (13,4) |
Gender [n (%)] | |
Female | 4142 (66) |
Male | 2093 (34) |
BMI [n (%)] | |
BMI < 18.5 (underweight) | 37 (1) |
BMI ≥ 18.5 < 25 (normal weight) | 1687 (32) |
BMI ≤ 25 < 30 (overweight) | 2060 (39) |
BMI ≥ 30 (obese) | 1463 (28) |
Smoking [n (%)] | |
Yes | 1413 (26) |
No | 3920 (73) |
Educational level [n (%)] | |
Low (no education, primary level education, lower vocational and lower secondary education) | 2925 (56) |
Moderate (higher secondary education or undergraduate) | 1467 (28) |
High (tertiary, university level, postgraduate) | 830 (16) |
Living together with a partner [n (%)] | |
Yes | 4663 (75) |
No | 1593 (26) |
Nationality [n (%)] | |
Dutch | 5049 (95) |
Non-Dutch: | 278 (5.2) |
Surinamese | 21 (0.4) |
Antillean/Aruban | 22 (0.4) |
Turkish | 63 (1) |
Moroccan | 42 (1) |
Other | 130 (2.4) |
Region in the Netherlands [n (%)] | |
South | 2029 (32) |
North | 1165 (19) |
East | 1280 (20) |
West | 1782 (28) |
Employment [n (%)] | |
Yes | 1687(42) |
No | 2376 (59) |
Recurrent low back pain [n (%)] | |
Yes | 3174 (63) |
No | 1876 (37) |
Diagnosis-source of pain [n (%)] | |
1 = SI | 1864 (33) |
2 = Facet | 2269 (41) |
3 = Disc | 18 (0.3) |
4 = Combined | 1391 (25) |
5 = Unclear | 66 (1) |
Patients expectations | |
Credibility [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 77.1 (17.5) |
Expectancy [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 57.8 (17.3) |
Rand-36 | |
Mental [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 22.6 (5) |
Physical [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 18.5 (4) |
Health-related quality of life(utility) [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 48 (29) |
MPI [mean (SD)] range per subscale 0–100 | |
Pain severity | 22.6 (5.7) |
Interference with daily activities | 5.8 (1.9) |
Life control | 21.2 (6.3) |
Affective distress | 15.4 (4.6) |
Support | 28.6 (7.6) |
Type of health care insurance [n (%)] | |
Basic insurance | 633 (12) |
Comprehensive (basic + additional cover) | 4630 (86) |
I don’t know | 55 (1) |
ODI functional disability [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 11.1 (9) |
Pain severity [mean (SD)] range 0–100 | 73 (16) |
Disability
Results disability | Crude | Adjusted | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Disability ODI (0–100) | Beta | 95% CI | Beta | 95% CI | ||
Lower bound | Upper bound | Lower bound | Upper bound | |||
Total costs-societal perspectivea | 24 | 20 | 29 | 17 | 14 | 20 |
Total costs-health care perspectiveb | 10 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 9 |
Health-related quality of lifec | − 0.0096 | − 0.0099 | − 0.0093 |
Pain
Results pain | Crude | Adjusted | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pain (0–100) | Beta | 95% CI | Beta | 95% CI | ||
Lower bound | Upper bound | Lower bound | Upper bound | |||
Total costs-societal perspectivea | 8 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
Total costs-health care perspectiveb | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Health-related quality of lifec | − 0.0041 | − 0.0043 | − 0.0038 |