Nonpharmacologic Back Pain Treatment Use and Associated Patient Reported Outcomes in US-Based Integrative Medicine...

Area of Science:

• Integrative Medicine
• Healthcare Delivery Systems
• Pain Management

Background:

• Integrative Medicine (IM) clinics represent an innovative care model.
• IM clinics may enhance access to guideline-concordant nonpharmacologic treatments for conditions like low back pain (LBP).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utilization and effectiveness of IM services for LBP within IM clinic settings.

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study involving 660 adult patients with LBP across seventeen IM clinics.
• Assessed IM service use patterns over 12 months and clinical outcome changes using linear mixed-effects models.
• Utilized PROMIS-29 for primary (pain interference, physical function) and secondary outcomes.

Main Results:

• Over two-thirds (70%) of participants received guideline-concordant nonpharmacologic treatments.
• A modest reduction in pain interference was observed at 2 and 12 months.
• Improvements in physical function were not statistically significant; small improvements noted in most secondary outcomes except fatigue and sleep.

Conclusions:

• The majority of LBP patients in IM clinics received guideline-recommended nonpharmacologic treatments.
• Observed clinical outcome improvements were relatively modest.
• Further multi-site studies are required to determine optimal implementation strategies for IM clinics.