Patients with two or more Emergency Department (ED) visits for back pain in one calendar year, for individuals ages 18 and older, per 100,000 population.

Number of patients ages 18 and older residing in a community with two or more ED visits (within state) with a first-listed diagnosis of back pain or back disorders, including spinal stenosis, back pain, lumbago, sciatica, neuritis or radiculitis, disorders of the sacrum, spondylosis, intervertebral disc disorders, and spinal degeneration ( BACKPAIN* ) in a fixed 12-month period of a calendar year.

Population ages 18 and above in the metropolitan area or county. Visits in the numerator are assigned to the denominator based on the metropolitan area or county of the patient residence, not the metropolitan area or county of the hospital where the discharge occurred.

Exclude visits: • With missing patient sequencing information • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for urinary tract infection (BPEXCLUDEUTI) or fever (BPEXCLUDEFEVER) • With missing gender (SEX=missing), age (AGE=missing), first-listed diagnosis (DX1=missing), or county (PSTCO=missing) • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for cancer (APPENDIX A: BPEXCLUDECANCER) • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis for trauma (APPENDIX B: TRAUMAF) • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for cauda equina syndrome, spinal epidural abscess, or cord compression (BPEXCLUDECES*) • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for Cholelithiasis or Cholecystitis (BPEXCLUDEGALLSTONE *) • With any listed ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for Hydronephrosis with renal and ureteral calculous obstruction or calculus of kidney and ureter (BPEXCLUDEKIDNEYSTONE *)

By age and sex.

None

qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/

qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/Downloads/Modules/PQE/V2024/TechSpecs/PQE05VisitsforBackPain.pdf