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Description:
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Chronic pain is a costly and debilitating condition that has proven difficult to treat solely with medical interventions due to the complex interplay of biological , psychological , and social factors in its onset and persistence . Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of interdisciplinary treatment that includes psychosocial interventions for low back pain . Nevertheless , these interventions continue to be under -utilized due to concerns of cost and applicability . The present study evaluated effectiveness and associated costs by using the objective , standard approach of a cost utility analysis . Individuals with acute low back pain that was considered at high -risk for becoming chronic (according to a previously -demonstrated algorithm ) were randomized to either treatment as usual or an interdisciplinary early intervention program . Treatment effectiveness was evaluated using a standard pain measure and quality -adjusted life years (QALYs ) from pre -treatment baseline to 12 -month follow -up , and associated medical and employment costs were gathered every 3 months for 1 year . Results indicated that subjects improved significantly from pre -treatment to one -year follow -up , and that the early intervention group reported fewer healthcare visits and missed workdays . A cost utility analysis was conducted utilizing 1 ,000 bootstrapped samples , and the majority of samples indicated the dominance of the early intervention program as being both more effective and less costly from a societal perspective . Within a generally -accepted range of acceptable costs , the early intervention treatment was the preferred option in 85 % to 93 % of samples . Sensitivity analyses indicated that these effects were robust to changes in estimated values for associated costs . These results indicate encouraging evidence for the cost -effectiveness of interdisciplinary intervention and the benefits of targeted treatment . |