Healthcare Resource Utilization for Chronic Low Back Pain among High-Utilizers.

This is one of the first studies to use an administrative claims database to identify high healthcare resource utilizers among a population of US individuals with non-surgical, chronic low back pain and follow their utilization over time. There was a population of individuals who continued to experience high costs 5 years beyond their initial diagnosis, and the majority of individuals continued to seek outpatient services. Further longitudinal claims research that incorporates symptom severity is needed to understand the economic implications of this condition.