Table 1 Baseline Characteristics and Unadjusted Healthcare Process and Utilization Variables
Total Sample N = 308 | Early Physical Therapy Consultation (n = 160) | Delayed Physical Therapy Consultation (n = 74) | Late Physical Therapy Consultation (n = 74) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patient Demographics | |||||
Age | 48.7 (14.5) | 48.0 (15.2) | 49.8 (14.0) | 49.0 (13.6) | 0.67 |
Sex (% female) | 69.2% | 68.8% | 71.6% | 67.6% | 0.86 |
Comorbidities | |||||
Low Back Pain | 66.2% | 62.5% | 59.5% | 81.1% | 0.01 |
Chronic or generalized pain | 29.9% | 21.3% | 31.1% | 47.3% | < 0.001 |
Substance abuse | 14.9% | 9.4% | 18.9% | 23.0% | 0.01 |
Depression | 34.7% | 33.8% | 28.4% | 43.2% | 0.15 |
Anxiety | 26.6% | 26.9% | 25.7% | 27.0% | 0.98 |
Fibromyalgia | 21.8% | 21.3% | 18.9% | 25.7% | 0.59 |
Tobacco use | 16.2% | 11.9% | 17.6% | 24.3% | 0.05 |
Obesity | 15.6% | 15.0% | 16.2% | 16.2% | 0.95 |
Healthcare Process variables | |||||
Plan type (% privately insured) | 29.2% | 30.6% | 25.7% | 29.7% | 0.74 |
Duration of Healthcare Episode of Care (HC-EOC) (Days) (median, IQR) | 155 (284) | 49 (206) | 139 (256) | 319 (103) | < 0.001 |
Duration of PT Treatment (PT-DOT) (Days) (median, IQR) | 22 (58) | 22 (68) | 22 (47) | 13 (76) | 0.5 |
Number of PT visits (median, IQR) | 3 (6) | 3 (7) | 4 (6) | 3 (4) | 0.17 |
Healthcare Utilization Outcomes | |||||
Spinal Injections | 35.1% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 52.7% | < 0.001 |
Prescribed opioids in 1-year from the index visit | 62.7% | 55.0% | 59.5% | 82.4% | 0.03 |
Imaging | |||||
MRI (%) | 22.7% | 10.6% | 31.1% | 40.5% | < 0.001 |
X-ray(%) | 41.2% | 27.5% | 55.4% | 56.8% | < 0.001 |
CT | 7.1% | 3.8% | 5.4% | 16.2% | < 0.001 |