Depression among Inpatients with Low Back Pain: Patient Characteristics and Outcomes (P1.212)

Objective: To investigate the relationship between depression and chronic low back and the effects it has on inpatient hospital stay. Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common and expensive health conditions in the United States and depression is a frequent comorbidity among individuals with LBP [1]. Drawing from a large database of patients hospitalized with LBP, the current study provides a preliminary comparison of patients with and without depression in terms of key demographic, treatment, and cost variables. Design/Methods: Analysis of National Inpatient Sample data (2003–2013) showed a total of 159,329 patients discharged with primary diagnosis of LBP, ICD-9 Code 724.2. Patients with depression were identified using Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) criteria. We compared age, length of stay (LOS) and total hospital charges between patients with and without depression, as well as association between depression and patient race, sex, and discharge/disposition status. Results: Analyses revealed that 15.3% of the sample met criteria for depression. Depression was associated with younger age (mean age: 58.51 vs. 60.93 years), female gender (72.3% vs. 60.3%), longer LOS (3.71 vs 3.36 days), higher hospital charges ($20,866 vs $19,439), Caucasian race, and disposition other than home self-care (see Table 1; all p’s Conclusions: Results support that depression is a significant comorbidity among patients with LBP. Current findings point to gender and race disparities in terms of depression and LBP, and indicated that depression is associated with increased length of stay, higher cost to patient, and disposition other than home care. Further prospective studies are required to evaluate the impact of depression on inpatients with low back pain. Disclosure: Dr. Schlitz Fortenberry has nothing to disclose. Dr. gupta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Trost has nothing to disclose.