SPINE FACTS
In the United States...
- Spinal disorders are the greatest single cause of disability for working age people.(1)
- The total costs of low-back pain (not including all other spine disorders) in the United States exceed $100 billion per year (2)
- As a major public health issue 32,081,000 patients visited a physician for a back condition in 2004. Forty-three percent were males; fifty-seven percent were females.(3)
- Spine disease represents the second leading cause of hospital admissions in the United States.(4)
- 1.6 million hospitalizations account for $26 billion in total charges.(5)
- Spine disease is the second most frequent reason for a physician office visit and the Number 3 reason for surgery in the U.S.(5)
- Back trouble is the most common cause of chronic sickness in both men and women less than 64 years of age and the second most common between age 65 and 74.(6)
- Back pain results in over 100 million lost work days per year.(7)
In China…
- Approximately 7% of the total population suffers from primary osteoporosis.(8)
- The peak bone mineral density for Chinese women at the lumbar spine was lower than those for Japanese and Caucasian women.(9)
- In the last 50 years, epidemics of myelomeningocele (failure of the spinal canal to develop in cases such as spina bifida) have occurred in the People’s Republic of China.(10)
Two Most Common Conditions Causing Activity Limitation
| Number (1,000s) | Percent of all conditions | |
|
7,932 |
13.0 |
|
7,672 |
12.6(11) |
References
1 Jordan KD, et al. Should extended disability be an exclusion criterion for tertiary rehabilitaton? Spine 23(19)2110-2116, Oct 1, 1998
2 Katz, JN. Lumbar disc disorders and low-back pain. JBJS 88A(Suppl 2) 21, 2006
3 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 1998-2004
4 U.S. Labor Department, US Department of Health and Human Resources, 2000
5 Research Priorities for the Unified Musculoskeletal Research Agenda
6. Nachemson, Alf L. and Jonsson E. Neck and Back Pain: The Scientific Evidence of Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2000, p. 167
7 Atlas, Wasiak, van den Ancker, Weber and Pransky (2004) Primary Care Involvement and Outcomes of Care in Patients with a Worker’s Compensation Claim for Back Pain. Spine 29(9)1041-1048
8 Annals of Human Genetics 68(Pt 2)154-64, March 2004
9 Cal Tissue Int 73(2)122-32, Aug 2003
10 EMedicine from WebMD. www.emedicine.com/pmr/byname/myelomeningocele.htm
11 United States National Health Interview Survey 1992