Table 3.

Average relative percent change in CP service volume or management provided per FP from fiscal years 2008-2009 to 2017-2018 in British Columbia

CHARACTERISTICFISCAL YEAR
2008-2009, N=4060FY 2017-2018, N=4796AVERAGE RELATIVE % CHANGE
Service volume per FP, mean (SD)

  • No. of CP patients in outpatient setting with ≥1 visit(s) for any reason

559.76 (414.35)467.18 (353.85)−16.54

  • No. of CP patients in outpatient setting with ≥1 pain-related visit(s)*

256.24 (184.87)218.71 (169.37)−14.64

  • Percentage of all patients with CP

31.93 (8.17)32.54 (9.70)2.83

  • Percentage of CP patients with cancer

4.30 (3.01)5.55 (4.17)29.00
Service usage per FP, mean (SD)
Pain-related prescriptions

  • No. of CP patients prescribed long-term† opioids

8.46 (10.16)9.10 (11.22)7.57

  • No. of CP patients prescribed long-term neuropathic pain medications

16.50 (14.24)19.18 (17.78)16.24
No. of CP patients prescribed long-term NSAIDs8.83 (9.57)5.71 (7.30)−35.33

  • Percentage of CP patients prescribed long-term opioids

1.90 (2.44)2.46 (3.52)29.47

  • Percentage of total dispensed days that are opioids

2.56 (2.27)2.54 (3.96)−0.78

  • Percentage of CP patients prescribed neuropathic pain medications

3.59 (3.09)4.69 (4.01)30.64

  • Percentage of CP patients prescribed long-term NSAIDs

1.87 (1.91)1.38 (1.65)−26.20
Imaging and referral requests

  • No. of MSK imaging‡ requests for CP patients

112.67 (93.35)105.15 (92.68)−6.67

  • No. of MSK US requests for CP patients

6.28 (8.59)9.97 (11.32)58.76

  • No. of referrals to pain specialists

16.00 (17.99)20.70 (22.52)29.37

  • Percentage of all imaging requests as MSK imaging requests for CP patients

44.56 (13.72)46.60 (14.73)4.58

  • Percentage of all US requests as MSK US requests for CP patients

11.62 (11.30)17.43 (12.50)50.00

  • Percentage of all referrals as referrals to pain specialists

6.08 (5.45)7.81 (5.86)28.45

  • CP—chronic pain, ICD—International Classification of Diseases, MSK—musculoskeletal, NSAID—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, US—ultrasound.

  • ↵* Pain-related visit defined as an encounter with a pain-related ICD code.

  • ↵† Long-term prescription defined as 90 days dispensed within any 100-day period per fiscal year.

  • ↵‡ Musculoskeletal imaging includes x-ray scans of the limbs, temporomandibular joint, and axial skeleton (excluding skull), plus extremity US distinct from doppler or venous US.