In one study psychological factors were able to predict 91% of the time which back pain patients would recover from an acute pain condition and which would go on to become disabled (Gatchel, et al., 1995).
A major study found that job dissatisfaction, hysteria and antisocial traits were better predictors of who would file an injury report in the future than were 50 medical variables (Battíe & Bigos, 1991).
Of 98 patients admitted to a pain management program for patients with nonmalignant chronic pain, 34 were definitely depressed, 20 were probably depressed, and 44 were not depressed (Maruta, 1989).
Patients treated in a functional restoration treatment program for chronic low back pain and were compared with 72 patients not treated. A two-year follow-up that 87% of the treatment group was actively working after two years, as compared with only 41% of the nontreatment comparison group.
Certain psychiatric syndromes appear to precede chronic low-back pain (substance abuse and anxiety disorders), whereas others (specifically, major depression) develop either before or after the onset of chronic low- back pain ( Polatin et al, 1993).
In a twenty year-long study at Kaiser-Permanente, it was found that more than 60% of all visits by medical patients at their facilities were made by individuals with no clear diagnosable disorder. These persons were labeled "the worried well" (Cummings & VandenBos, 1981).
In a study of 26,000 subjects in 14 countries, it was found that physical disability was more closely associated with psychological factors than it was with medical diagnosis (Ormel, et al., 1994).
Colorado State Worker's Compensation regulations recommend that a Psychological evaluation be performed on patients at 6-12 weeks after injury if there is no improvement .
Over 90 million Americans &emdash; about 45% of non-institutionalized persons &emdash; have one or more chronic conditions, with annual costs estimated to be $659 billion in 1987 (Hoffman, Rice & Sung, 1996)
American corporate health and safety costs are estimated to be $418 billion in direct costs annually, $837 billion in indirect costs, for a total of $1.256 trillion in annual costs (Brady, et al, 1997).
In a study of the MRIs of 98 "normal" persons with no back pain symptoms, 52% had bulging disks, 27% had a protrusion, and 1% had an extrusion (Jensen, et al., 1994).
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