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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Nov 30:341:c6414.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.c6414.

Effect of integrated care for sick listed patients with chronic low back pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial

Ludeke C Lambeek  1 , Judith E Bosmans, Barend J Van Royen, Maurits W Van Tulder, Willem Van Mechelen, Johannes R Anema
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of integrated care for sick listed patients with chronic low back pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial

Ludeke C Lambeek et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the cost effectiveness, cost utility, and cost-benefit of an integrated care programme compared with usual care for sick listed patients with chronic low back pain.

Design: Economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial with 12 months' follow-up.

Setting: Primary care (10 physiotherapy practices, one occupational health service, one occupational therapy practice) and secondary care (five hospitals) in the Netherlands, 2005-9.

Participants: 134 adults aged 18-65 sick listed because of chronic low back pain: 66 were randomised to integrated care and 68 to usual care.

Interventions: Integrated care consisted of a workplace intervention based on participatory ergonomics, with involvement of a supervisor, and a graded activity programme based on cognitive behavioural principles. Usual care was provided by general practitioners and occupational physicians according to Dutch guidelines.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was duration until sustainable return to work. The secondary outcome was quality adjusted life years (QALYs), measured using EuroQol.

Results: Total costs in the integrated care group (£13 165, SD £13 600) were significantly lower than in the usual care group (£18 475, SD £13 616). Cost effectiveness planes and acceptability curves showed that integrated care was cost effective compared with usual care for return to work and QALYs gained. The cost-benefit analyses showed that every £1 invested in integrated care would return an estimated £26. The net societal benefit of integrated care compared with usual care was £5744.

Conclusions: Implementation of an integrated care programme for patients sick listed with chronic low back pain has a large potential to significantly reduce societal costs, increase effectiveness of care, improve quality of life, and improve function on a broad scale. Integrated care therefore has large gains for patients and society as well as for employers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available on request from the corresponding author) and declare: no support from any company for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any companies that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

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Fig 1 Flow of participants in study
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Fig 2 Cost effectiveness plane and cost effectiveness acceptability curve for difference in return to work after 12 months
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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