ArticleBMJ open2022
Healthcare utilization and related costs among older people seeking primary care due to back pain: findings from the BACE-N cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04261309 (BACk Pain in Elders in Norway), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
BACk Pain in Elders in Norway (BACE-N); A Prospective Cohort Study of Older People Visiting Primary Care With a New Episode of Back Pain
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic Factors of High Healthcare Utilization Costs Among People With Spinal Disorders Using a Spine Registry Linked to Public Healthcare Data.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Predicting high health care use in patients with spinal disorder in secondary care: model development and validation.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Differences in demographics and clinical outcomes in older, middle-aged, and younger adults with low back pain receiving chiropractic care.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Observational
- Economic Evaluation in Physiotherapy or How to Get the Best Value for Money.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2025Article
- Activities of daily living limitations in relation to the presence of pain in community-dwelling older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Patient characteristics and healthcare use for high-cost patients with musculoskeletal disorders in Norway: a cohort study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Societal costs of older adults with low back pain seeking chiropractic care: findings from the BACE-C cohort study.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2024Article
- Combination of health care service use and the relation to demographic and socioeconomic factors for patients with musculoskeletal disorders: a descriptive cohort study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo describe healthcare utilization and estimate associated costs during 1 year of follow-up among older people seeking primary care due to a new episode back pain and to describe healthcare utilization across patients with different risk profiles stratified using the StarT Back Screening Tool (SBST).
designProspective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS AND
settingA total of 452 people aged ≥55 years seeking Norwegian primary care with a new episode of back pain were included. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome of this study was total cost of healthcare utilization aggregated for 1 year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes included components of healthcare utilization aggregated for 1 year of follow-up. Healthcare utilization was self-reported and included: primary care consultations, medications, examinations, hospitalisation, rehabilitation stay, and operations. Costs were estimated based on unit costs collected from national pricelists. Healthcare utilization across patients with different SBST risk profiles was compared using Kruskal-Wallis test, post hoc Mann-Whitney U tests and Bonferroni adjustment.
resultsIn total, 438 patients were included in the analysis. Mean (BCa 95% CI) total cost per patient over 1 year was €825 (682-976). Median (BCa 95% CI) total cost was €364 (307-440). The largest cost category was primary care consultations, accounting for 56% of total costs. Imaging rate was 34%. The most commonly used medication was paracetamol (27%-35% of patients). Medium- and high-risk patients had a significantly higher degree of healthcare utilization compared with low-risk patients (p<0.030).
conclusionThis study estimated a 1 year mean and median cost of healthcare utilization of €825 and €364, respectively. Patients within the top 25th percentile accounted for 77% of all costs. Patients classified as medium risk and high risk had a significantly higher degree of healthcare utilization compared with patients classified as low risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04261309, results.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.