OBJECTIVES: Chronic back pain is a common health problem which is associated with considerable costs in United States. The largest categories for pain therapy costs include NSAID analgesics and opioids. However there has been limited evidence outlining the effectiveness in terms of quality of life of patients taking these pain medications for treating chronic back pain.Objective of this study is to perform a cost-utility analysis of chronic back pain patients using NSAIDS versus those using opioids alone and/ or combination opioid analgesics. 

METHODS: This cross sectional, observational, cost utility study was conducted using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey database. Adult’s ≥ 18 years with chronic back pain diagnosis (identified by ICD-9 –CM codes) for atleast 3 consecutive rounds were included in the study. The study was conducted from a payer’s perspective and only the direct costs were included . Utility was measured using SF-6D scores from the SF-12 questionnaire. 

RESULTS: