Can a Back Pain E-mail Discussion Group improve health status and lower health care costs?: A randomized study - PubMed (original) (raw)
Clinical Trial
. 2002 Apr 8;162(7):792-6.
doi: 10.1001/archinte.162.7.792.
Affiliations
- PMID: 11926853
- DOI: 10.1001/archinte.162.7.792
Clinical Trial
Can a Back Pain E-mail Discussion Group improve health status and lower health care costs?: A randomized study
Kate R Lorig et al. Arch Intern Med. 2002.
Abstract
Background: Given the high health care utilization, limited evidence for the effectiveness of back pain interventions, and the proliferation of e-mail health discussion groups, this study seeks to determine if the Internet can be used to improve health status and health care utilization for people with chronic back pain.
Methods: Randomized controlled trial. Participants included 580 people from 49 states with chronic back pain having at least 1 outpatient visit in the past year, no "red-flag" symptoms, and access to e-mail. Major exclusion criteria included continuous back pain for more than 90 days causing major activity intolerance and/or receiving disability payments.
Intervention: Closed, moderated, e-mail discussion group. Participants also received a book and videotape about back pain. Controls received a subscription to a non-health-related magazine of their choice.
Main outcome measures: Pain, disability, role function, health distress, and health care utilization.
Results: At 1-year treatment, subjects compared with controls demonstrated improvements in pain (P =.045), disability (P =.02), role function (P =.007), and health distress (P =.001). Physician visits for the past 6 months declined by 1.5 visits for the treatment group and by 0.65 visits for the control group (P =.07). Mean hospital days declined nearly 0.20 days for the treated group vs and increased 0.04 days for the control group (P =.24).
Conclusions: An e-mail discussion group can positively affect health status and possibly health care utilization. It may have a place in the treatment of chronic recurrent back pain.
Similar articles
- The impact of a moderated e-mail discussion group on use of complementary and alternative therapies in subjects with recurrent back pain.
Bruce B, Lorig K, Laurent D, Ritter P. Bruce B, et al. Patient Educ Couns. 2005 Sep;58(3):305-11. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2004.08.012. Patient Educ Couns. 2005. PMID: 16122642 Clinical Trial. - A randomized trial of a lay person-led self-management group intervention for back pain patients in primary care.
Von Korff M, Moore JE, Lorig K, Cherkin DC, Saunders K, González VM, Laurent D, Rutter C, Comite F. Von Korff M, et al. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1998 Dec 1;23(23):2608-15. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199812010-00016. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1998. PMID: 9854760 Clinical Trial. - Cost-effectiveness of two self-care interventions to reduce disability associated with back pain.
Strong LL, Von Korff M, Saunders K, Moore JE. Strong LL, et al. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006 Jul 1;31(15):1639-45. doi: 10.1097/01.brs.0000224528.75951.03. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006. PMID: 16816756 Clinical Trial. - Are back supports plus education more effective than education alone in promoting recovery from low back pain?: Results from a randomized clinical trial.
Oleske DM, Lavender SA, Andersson GB, Kwasny MM. Oleske DM, et al. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2007 Sep 1;32(19):2050-7. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181453fcc. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2007. PMID: 17762804 Clinical Trial. - Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a guided Internet- and mobile-based intervention for the indicated prevention of major depression in patients with chronic back pain-study protocol of the PROD-BP multicenter pragmatic RCT.
Sander L, Paganini S, Lin J, Schlicker S, Ebert DD, Buntrock C, Baumeister H. Sander L, et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Jan 21;17(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1193-6. BMC Psychiatry. 2017. PMID: 28109247 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
Cited by
- Potentially modifiable risk factors among veterans with spinal cord injury hospitalized for severe pressure ulcers: a descriptive study.
Guihan M, Bombardier CH. Guihan M, et al. J Spinal Cord Med. 2012 Jul;35(4):240-50. doi: 10.1179/2045772312Y.0000000016. J Spinal Cord Med. 2012. PMID: 22925750 Free PMC article. Review. - A review of features in Internet consumer health decision-support tools.
Schwitzer G. Schwitzer G. J Med Internet Res. 2002 Apr-Nov;4(2):E11. doi: 10.2196/jmir.4.2.e11. J Med Internet Res. 2002. PMID: 12554558 Free PMC article. Review. - Implementation of Online Behavior Modification Techniques in the Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Cuenca-Martínez F, López-Bueno L, Suso-Martí L, Varangot-Reille C, Calatayud J, Herranz-Gómez A, Romero-Palau M, Casaña J. Cuenca-Martínez F, et al. J Clin Med. 2022 Mar 24;11(7):1806. doi: 10.3390/jcm11071806. J Clin Med. 2022. PMID: 35407414 Free PMC article. Review. - Cherry consumption and decreased risk of recurrent gout attacks.
Zhang Y, Neogi T, Chen C, Chaisson C, Hunter DJ, Choi HK. Zhang Y, et al. Arthritis Rheum. 2012 Dec;64(12):4004-11. doi: 10.1002/art.34677. Arthritis Rheum. 2012. PMID: 23023818 Free PMC article. - Use of the Internet for health information by the chronically ill.
Wagner TH, Baker LC, Bundorf MK, Singer S. Wagner TH, et al. Prev Chronic Dis. 2004 Oct;1(4):A13. Epub 2004 Sep 15. Prev Chronic Dis. 2004. PMID: 15670445 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous