Identifying Episodes of Back Pain Using Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS) Data: Patient Experience, Use of Services, and Chronicity

doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2010.08.017

PMC full text:

J Manipulative Physiol Ther. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 Oct 8.

Published in final edited form as:

J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2010 Oct; 33(8): 562–575.

Published online 2010 Oct 8. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2010.08.017

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Table 5

Correspondence between Back Pain Episodes-of-Care and Episodes-of-Pain for “Users” of back pain services (N = 8,,244^a)

Back Pain episodes based solely on Utilization(Back Pain Episodes-of-Care)		Back Pain episodes based on Utilization, or “being bothered” by back pain, or Disability Days due to back pain (Episodes-of-Pain).
		A	B	C	D
A) Single Limited BP Episode	(n = 4,350)	78%	9%	4%	9%
B) Single Prolonged BP Episode	(n = 1,189)		75%	18%	7%
C) Longterm Continuous Back Pain	(n = 1,495)			99%	1%
D) Multiple, recurrent BP Episodes	(n = 1,210)			26%	74%

Note: Reading Row 1 as example, 4,350 of adult MEPS respondents are initially classified as having a single limited back pain episode based only on their MEPS Utilization “Episodes-of-Care” pattern (Category A1 or A2). When information about their Utilization is augmented with their self report of “being bothered” by back pain or having disability day due to back pain, 78% of individuals remain classified as a single limited Episode-of-Pain, whereas 22% are reclassified as having a longer back pain episode (Category B,C) or having recurrent back pain episodes (Category D).

^aFor purpose of constructing this table, N = 8,244 are those adults who are identified in the MEPS Ambulatory Utilization Events files and in the MEPS Medical Conditions file as having back pain utilization events, i.e. “Users” of back pain services. (Approximately 1,949 adults self-report “being bothered” by back pain or having disability day due to back pain, but use NO health services for their back pain and therefore they are “Non-Users” and are not represented in this particular table).