Spine Degenerative Conditions and Their Treatments: National Trends in the United States of America

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective database study. OBJECTIVE: Low back and neck pain are among the top leading causes of disability worldwide. The aim of our study was to report the current trends on spine degenerative disorders and their treatments. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with lumbar or cervical spine conditions within the orthopedic subset of Medicare and Humana databases (PearlDiver). From the initial cohorts we identified subgroups based on the treatment: fusion or nonoperative within 1 year from diagnosis. Poisson regression was used to determine demographic differences in diagnosis and treatment approaches. RESULTS: Within the Medicare database there were 6 206 578 patients diagnosed with lumbar and 3 156 215 patients diagnosed with cervical degenerative conditions between 2006 and 2012, representing a 16.5% (lumbar) decrease and 11% (cervical) increase in the number of diagnosed patients. There was an increase of 18.5% in the incidence of fusion among lumbar patients. For the Humana data sets there were 1 160 495 patients diagnosed with lumbar and 660 721 patients diagnosed with cervical degenerative disorders from 2008 to 2014. There was a 33% (lumbar) and 42% (cervical) increases in the number of diagnosed patients. However, in both lumbar and cervical groups there was a decrease in the number of surgical and nonoperative treatments. CONCLUSIONS: There was an overall increase in both lumbar and cervical conditions, followed by an increase in lumbar fusion procedures within the Medicare database. There is still a burning need to optimize the spine care for the elderly and people in their prime work age to lessen the current national economic burden.