Real-world effectiveness and costs of vertical oscillatory pressure manipulation for low back pain

Abstract

Introduction. Real-world evidence studies using routinely collected data, such as patient clinical records, are innovative ways of generating insight into the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of vertical oscillatory pressure (VoP) on selected clinical outcomes for patients with low back pain (LBP) using routinely collected data. Methods. Retrospective analysis was carried out on the medical records of patients diagnosed with LBP in a tertiary hospital in south-west Nigeria over a 10-year period. Clinical outcomes (pain intensity and functional disability) in patients who received VoP ( n = 201) for their LBP were compared with controls that had traditional physiotherapy (TP) ( n = 138) in a routine clinical setting. Total costs of intervention were estimated in terms of direct and indirect costs. Results. T here were significant differences within group (from baseline to 4 th and 8 th week of intervention) for the VoP group in pain intensity ( p = 0.001) and functional disability ( p = 0.001). However, TP group showed no significant differences in pain intensity and functional disability across baseline and week 8 of the study. There was a significant difference in pain intensity (2.95 ± 1.38 vs. 4.16 ± 2.48; p = 0.013) between VoP and TP at week eight. A higher direct and indirect costs associated with VoP compared with TP (both p = 0.042). Conclusions. The findings of this study suggest that VoP is an effective intervention for LBP in the ‘real-world’. VoP is more effective compared to TP on its effect on pain intensity over time.