Abstract
ABSTRACT Introduction US service members experience high rates of back pain. Guidelines prioritize nonpharmacologic treatment (NPT) as first-line pain treatments; however, NPT utilization patterns research is limited. This study examined NPT patterns of care within the first 10 weeks following an index back pain diagnosis. Materials and Methods Data were from the Substance Use and Psychological Injury Combat Study and included 222,427 active duty soldiers with an index back pain diagnosis following return from Afghanistan/Iraq deployment in 2008–2014. We fit a series of latent class analysis models to identify homogenous subgroups of soldiers with NPT utilization during the 10-week period and measured associations with soldier characteristics and clinical characteristics within 90 days before the back pain diagnosis, with the distinct NPT utilization classes. Approval for this study was granted by the Brandeis University Committee for Protection of Human Subjects (Institutional Review Board #14153) and the Uniformed Services University Institutional Review Board. Results Only half of the soldiers received any NPT within their 10-week early treatment window. Latent class analysis identified 4 classes over the 10-week early treatment window: Class 1 (None/Low NPT, 65%); Class 2 (High and Decreasing NPT, 15%); Class 3 (Low and Increasing NPT, 13%), and Class 4 (Sustained NPT, 7%). Soldier clinical characteristics from the 90-day preperiod window were most important in distinguishing class membership in relation to Class 1, particularly comorbid pain conditions, diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, receipt of prescription opioids, and receipt of invasive surgery. Conclusions Patterns of weekly NPT utilization during an early treatment window following a new back pain diagnosis varied temporally, with approximately half of soldiers using NPT. Half of the soldiers did not receive any NPT within their 10-week early treatment window, which highlights opportunities for increasing use of NPT utilization among military members with a new back pain episode. Future research is needed in the Military Health System to examine the extent to which NPT patterns are associated with pain management outcomes.