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Abstract
Medicaid insures an increasing proportion of adults in the United States. Physical therapy use for low back pain (LBP) in this population has not been described. The study objectives were: to examine physical therapy use by Medicaid enrollees with new LBP consultations and to evaluate associations with future health care use and LBP-related costs. A total of 2,289 patients with new LBP consultations were identified during 2012 (mean age=39.3 years. The settings in which the patients entered care and comorbid conditions were identified. Physical therapy was used by 457 patients (20.0%); 75 (3.3%) entered care in physical therapy, 89 (3.9%) received early physical therapy, and 298 (13.0%) received delayed physical therapy. Physical therapy was more common with chronic pain or obesity comorbidities and less likely with substance use disorders. Entering care in the emergency department decreased the likelihood of physical therapy. Entering care in physical medicine increased the likelihood. Relative to primary care entry, physical therapy entry was associated with lower 1-year costs.