The following is a summary of “Who are the people with chronic severe back pain not receiving pain treatment?,” published in the July 2024 issue of Pain by Feldman et al.

Limited data exists in understanding treatment access for chronic back pain, as studies primarily focus on individuals already receiving care.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the demographics, socioeconomic, and clinical factors associated with U.S. adults with chronic severe back pain who had not received pain management in the past 3 months.

They utilized data from the National Health Interview Survey (2019), identifying individuals with chronic severe back pain who did or did not receive any form of treatment, including self-management strategies, in the preceding 3 months. Both bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to examine factors linked to the absence of pain treatment.

The result showed that approximately 21% of individuals with chronic severe back pain did not receive any treatment in the last 3 months. Factors independently associated with untreated pain included being male (OR = 1.40; 95% CI 1.11-1.76), living near or below the poverty level (OR = 1.92; 95% CI 1.33-2.77), having less than a high-school education (OR = 2.37; 95% CI 1.52-3.68), lacking insurance coverage (OR = 1.77; 95% CI 1.21-2.59), residing in the South (OR = 2.05; 95% CI 1.40-3.00), and having heart disease (OR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.11-1.93). Conditions like single-parent status, depression, and multiple comorbid pain were also associated with receiving treatment.

The study found that one-fifth of individuals with chronic severe back pain had not received treatment for at least 3 months, with significant socioeconomic factors influencing the likelihood of receiving care.

Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(24)00586-8/abstract#%20