February 14, 2011
Roughly 3.4 million emergency department visits, or an average of 9,400 visits a day, that occurred at U.S. hospitals in 2008 were related to back problems, according to a press release from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
In addition, more than 663,000 inpatient stays — a daily average of nearly 1,820 stays that year — were mainly for back surgery or other back disorder treatments.
According to the release, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) also found the following back pain statistics for 2008:
- Adults ages 18 to 44 years were most likely to require just emergency department care for back pain with 1,569 visits per 100,000 people. Senior citizens aged 65 to 84 years were least likely to have such visits.
- Individuals agesd18 to 44 years were far less likely to be hospitalized, while seniors had the highest hospitalization rates;
- Men were less likely than women to need emergency department care or be hospitalized for back pain. with 1,005 visits and 209 admissions per 100,000 men vs. 1,244 emergency visits and 225 admissions per 100,000 women; and
- The overall costs for inpatient stays principally for back problems was more than $9.5 billion, making it the ninth most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals.
The report used data from the agency’s 2008 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample and 2008 data from its Nationwide Inpatient Sample, according to the release.
Reference:
- www.ahrq.gov