Socio-demographic, clinical and psychological predictors of healthcare utilization among patients with musculoskeletal disorders: a prospective cohort study

Table 3 Associations (OR) between potential predictors and secondary care contacts in relation to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (N = 759)

Potential predictor	Contacts		Crude	Adjusted^c
Potential predictor	Cases^b (n)	%	OR	OR	95% CI
Clinical
Pain 0-10^a	112	15	1.23	1.24	(1.11;1.40)*
Standardized disability 0-100^a	108	14	1.01	1.01	(1.00;1.02)*
Pain site
Low back	57	17	1.00	1.00	–
Neck	23	11	0.60	0.69	(0.39;1.19)
Shoulder	32	14	0.80	0.79	(0.47;1.33)
Socio-demographic
Level of education
None	20	15	1.00	1.00	–
Low (< 3 years) or vocational and training	60	50	1.01	1.02	(0.59;2.00)
Middle (3–4 years) or high (> 4 years)	31	13	0.83	0.88	(0.45;1.71)
Sickness leave^d
No	95	14	1.00	1.00	–
Yes	16	20	1.44	1.60	(0.82;3.11)
Private Health Insurance
No	74	15	1.00	1.00	–
Yes	30	13	0.85	0.94	(0.57;1.55)
Psychological
Fear avoidance 0-20^a	108	14	1.07	1.05	(1.01;1.10)*
Psychological wellbeing (WHO-5) 0-100^a	112	15	0.98	0.98	(0.97;0.99)*
General
General Health
Excellent/Very good	40	13	1.00	1.00	–*
Good	45	14	1.11	1.16	(0.70;1.91)
Fair/poor	25	19	1.58	1.86	(1.00;3.45)

Abbreviations: OR Odds ratio, CI Confidence interval, WHO World Health Organization
* P < 0.05
^aOR per 1 unit increase in scores
^bpatients with ≥1 contact to secondary care
^cadjusted for age, sex, duration of pain and comorbidity
^dPatients retired or with flex job or on disability pension was also included in this analysis (n = 186)

ISSN: 1472-6963