The Spine Journal
Volume 8, Issue 1 , Pages 8-20 , January 2008

A systematic review of low back pain cost of illness studies in the United States and internationally

  • Simon Dagenais, DC, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
    • CAM Research Institute, Irvine, CA, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. 25 Corona Ave., Rockcliffe, ON, K1M 1K8, Canada. Tel.: (949) 466-8132; fax: (949) 266-8951.
  • ,
  • Jaime Caro, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of General Internal Medicine and Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
    • Caro Research Institute, Concord, MA, USA
  • ,
  • Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
    • Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    • Research Division, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA, USA

Received 25 September 2007 ,Accepted 13 October 2007.

References 

  1. Druss BG, Marcus SC, Olfson M, Pincus HA. The most expensive medical conditions in America. Health Aff (Millwood). 2002;21:105–111
  2. Boonen A, van den HR, van TA, et al. Large differences in cost of illness and wellbeing between patients with fibromyalgia, chronic low back pain, or ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2005;64:396–402
  3. Goetzel RZ, Hawkins K, Ozminkowski RJ, Wang S. The health and productivity cost burden of the “top 10” physical and mental health conditions affecting six large U.S. employers in 1999. J Occup Environ Med. 2003;45:5–14
  4. Ekman M, Johnell O, Lidgren L. The economic cost of low back pain in Sweden in 2001. Acta Orthop. 2005;76:275–284
  5. Hansson EK, Hansson TH. The costs for persons sick-listed more than one month because of low back or neck problems. A two-year prospective study of Swedish patients. [see comment] Eur Spine J. 2005;14:337–345
  6. Walker BF, Muller R, Grant WD. Low back pain in Australian adults. Health provider utilization and care seeking. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2004;27:327–335
  7. Van ZJ, van KM. Low back pain: from algorithm to cost-effectiveness?. Pain Pract. 2005;5:179–189
  8. Watson PJ, Main CJ, Waddell G, Gales TF, Purcell-Jones G. Medically certified work loss, recurrence and costs of wage compensation for back pain: a follow-up study of the working population of Jersey. Br J Rheumatol. 1998;37:82–86
  9. Shinohara S, Okada M, Keira T, Ohwada M, Niitsuya M. Prognosis of accidental low back pain at work. Tohoku J Exp Med. 1998 Dec;186:291–302
  10. Kim HS, Choi JW, Chang SH, Lee KS, Oh JY. Treatment duration and cost of work-related low back pain in Korea. J Korean Med Sci. 2005;20:127–131
  11. Hutubessy RC, van Tulder MW, Vondeling H, Bouter LM. Indirect costs of back pain in the Netherlands: a comparison of the human capital method with the friction cost method. Pain. 1999;80(1–2):201–207
  12. Ekman M, Jonhagen S, Hunsche E, Jonsson L. Burden of illness of chronic low back pain in Sweden: a cross-sectional, retrospective study in primary care setting. Spine. 2005;30:1777–1785
  13. Jonsson D, Husberg M. Socioeconomic costs of rheumatic diseases. Implications for technology assessment. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2000;16:1193–1200
  14. Maniadakis N, Gray A. The economic burden of back pain in the UK. Pain. 2000;84:95–103
  15. Guo HR, Tanaka S, Halperin WE, Cameron LL. Back pain prevalence in US industry and estimates of lost workdays. Am J Public Health. 1999;89:1029–1035
  16. Lind BK, Lafferty WE, Tyree PT, Sherman KJ, Deyo RA, Cherkin DC. The role of alternative medical providers for the outpatient treatment of insured patients with back pain. Spine. 2005;30:1454–1459
  17. Luo X, Pietrobon R, Sun SX, Liu GG, Hey L. Estimates and patterns of direct health care expenditures among individuals with back pain in the United States. Spine. 2004;29:79–86
  18. Mapel DW, Shainline M, Paez K, Gunter M. Hospital, pharmacy, and outpatient costs for osteoarthritis and chronic back pain. J Rheumatol. 2004;31:573–583
  19. Ricci JA, Stewart WF, Chee E, Leotta C, Foley K, Hochberg MC. Back pain exacerbations and lost productive time costs in United States workers. Spine. 2006;31:3052–3060
  20. Ritzwoller DP, Crounse L, Shetterly S, Rublee D. The association of comorbidities, utilization and costs for patients identified with low back pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2006;7:72
  21. Rizzo JA, Abbott TA, Berger ML. The labor productivity effects of chronic backache in the United States. Med Care. 1998;36:1471–1488
  22. Stewart WF, Ricci JA, Chee E, Morganstein D, Lipton R. Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce. JAMA. 2003;290:2443–2454
  23. Vogt MT, Kwoh CK, Cope DK, Osial TA, Culyba M, Starz TW. Analgesic usage for low back pain: impact on health care costs and service use. Spine. 2005;30:1075–1081
  24. Williams DA, Feuerstein M, Durbin D, Pezzullo J. Health care and indemnity costs across the natural history of disability in occupational low back pain. Spine. 1998;23:2329–2336
  25. Hashemi L, Webster BS, Clancy EA. Trends in disability duration and cost of workers' compensation low back pain claims 1988–1996. J Occup Environ Med. 1998;40:1110–1119
  26. Mychaskiw MA, Thomas J. Direct costs of back pain in the United States: a national estimate. Value Health. 2002;5:508–509Ref Type: Abstract
  27. Mychaskiw MA, Thomas J. Indirect costs due to back pain in the United States. Value Health. 2002;5:136;Ref Type: Abstract
  28. Deyo R, Tsui-Wu Y. Descriptive epidemiology of low back pain and its related medical care in the United States. Spine. 1987;12:264–268
  29. Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, et al. Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997: results of a follow-up national survey. JAMA. 1998;280:1569–1575
  30. Frymoyer JW, Cats-Baril WL. An overview of the incidences and costs of low back pain. Orthop Clin North Am. 1991;22:263–271

 FDA device/drug status: not applicable.

 Nothing of value received from a commercial entity related to this manuscript.

PII: S1529-9430(07)00898-4

doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2007.10.005

The Spine Journal
Volume 8, Issue 1 , Pages 8-20 , January 2008