Comorbidity Subgroups Among Medicare Beneficiaries Seeking Health Care for Musculoskeletal Pain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Treatment of musculoskeletal pain in older adults may be more effective if it incorporates integrated management of comorbid health conditions. The purpose of this study was to define empirically derived comorbidity subgroups among Medicare beneficiaries with an index condition of osteoarthritis (OA) or low back pain (LBP) as a precursor to the development of comorbidity-specific pain treatment pathways.

Methods

This study included Medicare beneficiaries participating in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and seeking care for OA (n = 723) or LBP (n = 617) with data available for 3 years after entry into the survey. We identified 30 comorbidity diagnoses using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) dia

SUBMITTER: Lentz TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6625584 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature