Narcotic drug use among patients with lower back pain in employer health plans: a retrospective analysis of risk factors and health care services.

Abstract Objective: This study examines the risk factors of narcotic drug use, medical and pharmacy claim costs, and health services use among lower back pain (LBP) patients who use narcotic medications. Methods: This retrospective study used administrative claims data between September 2002 and March 2004 from 3 employer health plans that collectively contained records of 165,569 employees 18 to 64 years of age. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to examine risk factors and health care services use consequences of narcotic drug use in patients with LBR Results: The study sample included 13,760 patients with LBP due to mechanical causes. Nearly 60% were female and the average age was 47 years. Almost half of the patients with LBP (45%) used narcotic drugs. Narcotic-using patients with LBP had significantly higher rates of comorbid conditions than patients with LBP not using narcotic drugs; hypertension (23% vs 13%), arthritis (14% vs 4%), depression (10% vs 5%), anxiety (6% vs 3%), and cancer (2% vs 1%) (P Conclusions: The subjects with LBP who used narcotic medications were more likely to have additional coexisting health conditions and used more health care services than nonusing patients with LBP (P