Identifying Neck and Back Pain in Administrative Data: Defining the Right Cohort
Spine, 05/03/2012
Clinical Article
Sinnott PL et al. – Gaps are evident in existing methods and a new framework to identify patients with neck pain and back pain in administrative data is proposed.
Methods- A literature review produced 7 methods for identifying neck and back pain in administrative data.
- These code lists were used to search Veterans Health Administration data for patients with back and neck problems, and to further categorize each case by spinal segment involved, as nonspecific/mechanical and as surgical or not.
- There is considerable overlap in most algorithms.
- However, gaps persist.
