Worsening Trends in the Management and Treatment of Back Pain

Abstract

Spinal symptoms are among the most common reasons for visiting a physician and significantly contribute to health care expenditures. More than 10% of visits to primary care physicians (PCPs) relate to back or neck pain (hereafter referred to as back pain), representing the fifth most common reason for all physician visits and accounting for approximately $86 billion in health care spending annually.^1-3 Indirect costs related to lost productivity amount to an additional $20 billion per year, which likely is an underestimate because the prevalence of chronic back pain may be increasing.^3-5 Moreover, spending for these conditions has increased more rapidly than overall health expenditures from 1997 to 2005.⁶