• Alesia B Sadosky, Gavin Taylor-Stokes, Steve Lobosco, James Pike, and Edgar Ross.
• Pfizer Inc., Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research, New York, NY 10017, USA. alesia.sadosky@pfizer.com
• J Spinal Disord Tech. 2013 Feb 1;26(1):8-14.

Study DesignA cross-sectional observational study of physicians and patients with chronic low-back pain (CLBP) in the United States.ObjectiveTo evaluate the association of patient-reported CLBP severity with other patient-reported outcomes.Summary Of Background DataAppropriate management of patients with CLBP can be enhanced by understanding how patients perceive the severity of their CLBP.MethodsData were from the 2009 Adelphi Disease Specific Programme. Patients reported the severity of their CLBP condition by answering the question Please rate how your chronic lower back pain condition is today with responses of mild, moderate, and severe. Patient-reported severity was evaluated with respect to scores on standard patient self-report measures of pain, pain interference, health status, functional disability, work productivity, and questions addressing satisfaction with medications for treating CLBP.ResultsOf 1860 subjects in the CLBP database, 1363 (73.3%) agreed to complete the survey. This sample was similarly distributed between males (49%) and females (51%), with mean age 54.8 years: 52% were employed at least part-time. CLBP severity was rated as mild, moderate and severe by 28.6%, 53.3%, and 18.2% of patients, respectively. With increasing CLBP severity, significant differences were observed in increased pain (P<0.0001), pain interference with function (P<0.0001), and impairment while working due to CLBP (P<0.01), mainly due to presenteeism. Increased work impairment resulted in higher costs related to lost work productivity; annual lost productivity costs were estimated at $7080, $16,616, and $25,032 per patient for mild, moderate, and severe CLBP, respectively (P<0.0001 for pairwise comparisons). Patient satisfaction with pain-related medication was inversely associated with CLBP severity.ConclusionsThe association between patient-reported CLBP severity and other patient-reported outcomes demonstrates that in the clinical setting, patient-reported CLBP severity provides an accurate and suitable indicator of patient-reported health status. This indicator may be useful for guiding management strategies for CLBP patients.

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