What is the cost of osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain in the UK
Full reference: Coates, G, Clewes, P, Lohan, C, Stevenson, H, Wood, R, Tritton, T, Knaggs, R, Dickson, AJ, Walsh, DA. Health economic impact of moderate-to-severe chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis in England: a retrospective analysis of linked primary and secondary care data. BMJ Open 2023;13:e067545. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067545
Coates, G, Clewes, P, Lohan, C, Stevenson, H, Wood, R, Tritton, T, Knaggs, RD, Dickson, AJ, Walsh, DA. Chronic low back pain with and without concomitant osteoarthritis: a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of patients in England Int J Clin Pract (in press, September 2023)
Lohan, C, Coates, G, Clewes, P, Stevenson, H, Wood, R, Tritton, T, Massey, L, Knaggs, RD, Dickson, AJ, Walsh, DA. Estimating the epidemiology and health economic impact of mild to severe chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis in England: A retrospective analysis of linked primary and secondary care data. BMJ Open (submitted after revision September 2023)
Osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain are very common, but it has been uncertain just how much of a financial drain they are on the National Health Service. We analysed information from 2008 to 2019 from two large statistical databases in the UK, the Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). We studied information from people who had received healthcare for mild, moderate or severe chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis or chronic low back pain, and compared them to people without those conditions who were otherwise similar. For each analysis we included information from 5,931 to 23,016 people with chronic pain. We found that people with osteoarthritis or chronic low back pain saw their General Practioner, attended outpatients and emergency departments and were admitted to hospital more often than people without these conditions. By 36 months, healthcare costs were about 4 times higher for cases than for controls. Resource use was greatest in patients with severe pain. People with moderate to severe pain with osteoarthritis frequently changed their pain medicines, often using combination treatments or revisiting treatments they had previously used. More than one in ten people changed treatment more than twenty times. We conclude that moderate-to-severe chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis or chronic low back pain has a substantial impact both on patients and healthcare providers. Better treatments are needed that help more people for more of the time.