Baseline-characteristics of Patients Referred to a Secondary Spine Centre

The incidence of back and neck pain is increasing in our ageing population. Back pain is amongst the conditions with the highest burden of disease in terms of years lived with disability (YLD). The majority of people experiences at least one period of back pain in their lifetime. The incidence of back complaints increases with age. Due to ageing of the population, the number of patients with back pain exponentially increases. Since 1980, the global population of people older than 60 years has doubled and this number is expected to double again by 2050. Patients with back or neck pain and/or symptoms of radiculopathy, and suspected spinal pathology, are often referred to a secondary spine centre. A large number of these patients will receive conservative treatment and only a small number eventually receives a surgical intervention. There is a broad array of conservative treatment options, including medication, manipulative care, physical therapy, treatment by pain specialists, and rehabilitation. The increasing incidence of spinal pathologies likewise leads to an increase in spinal surgeries. The ageing population is one of the most prominent factors by which the number of spine surgeries has increased and will even increase further in the future. Previous studies concerning the national US bill for spine related care in 2006 estimated that direct medical expenditures were over $85 billion. Over the last decades, the costs of spine related healthcare have increased at an alarming rate and will even increase further. To limit the increase of healthcare-related costs concerning spine-related healthcare in an ageing population, the selection and profiling of subgroups of patients requiring different types of treatment should be ameliorated to optimize spinal care. To date, adequate knowledge on baseline characteristics is lacking, and thereby insufficient to perform patient profiling.

This study aims to evaluate baseline characteristics, including baseline questionnaires, and information about the given treatments for all patients referred to the spine centre. Insight in the specific characteristics of different patient groups, for example different types of conservative interventions or conservative versus surgical interventions, could provide a valuable insight during counselling.