Study touts benefit of physical therapy

Fast action on low-back pain shown to cut costs, drug use

Patients with acute low back pain who get a referral for physical therapy, and are treated within three days, use fewer opioids and have lower health-care costs, according to a study led by a University of Central Florida researcher.

The study also showed that early physical therapy lowered the need for health-care services such as advanced imaging, spinal injection, emergency room visits and spine surgery.

Researchers said this is the first population-based study to show the benefits of immediate physical therapy for patients who have acute low back pain, which is the most common cause of work-related disability. It is estimated that costs associated with low back pain are more than $100 billion each year.

“Low back pain is the cause of significant pain, disability and loss of productivity,” said Xinliang Liu, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at UCF and the study’s lead author, in a news release. “Decisions about treatment have important implications for the health-care industry.”

The study adds to the body of research that shows earlier intervention with physical therapy benefits most patients with low back pain, but it also further fuels controversies around the issue.

After reviewing the study, what stood out to Dr. Philip Meinhardt, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Jewett Orthopaedic Clinic in Orlando, were numbers that showed patients who didn’t receive any physical therapy at all had the lowest health-care use and related costs, even compared with those who got physical therapy within three days.

“What the study really does, is echo what we've known for a long time: Acute lower back pain is extremely common,” said Meinhardt. “Even though when these episodes are very severe, they’re usually self-limiting problems and usually resolve within six weeks.”

About 80 percent of adults experience back pain at some