Health Care Utilization After Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Treatment: Part II. Preliminary Examination of Mediating and Moderating Factors in the Use of Costly Health Care Procedures

This study was undertaken to identify relevant factors that contribute to reliance on costly medical procedures for pain relief among military service members with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Numerous psychosocial, physical, and demographic variables assessed as part of the FORT study were analyzed with AHLTA procedure data. This preliminary analysis revealed that service members without children (55%) were significantly more likely to seek medical procedures for pain compared to those with children (16%). Those who sought medical procedures for pain demonstrated significantly higher levels of work‐related fear avoidance (x = 21.83) compared to non‐procedure patients (x = 11.79), and those who received procedures also demonstrated less lumbar flexion (x = 37.67 degrees) compared to non‐utilizers (x = 46.67 degrees). Lack of children, high work‐related fear avoidance, and low lumbar range of motion accounted for 36% of the variance in medical procedure use in this sample. Implications for future research are discussed.
Source: Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research