ABSTRACT
Chronic back pain (CBP), and in particular chronic low back pain (CLBP), is a growing “epidemic” in the United States (Aronoff, 1991). It has been estimated that 70% to 80% of the costs for work-related low back claims are accounted for by 7% to 10% of patients who develop CLBP (Fast, 1977; Spengler et al., 1986). Annual costs of low back disability in the United States have been estimated to be approximately $50 billion, with the average cost of a single case of work-related back pain exceeding $8,000 (Hazard, Haugh, Reid, Preble, & MacDonald, 1996). Its prevalence also appears to be on the rise, as 31.8% of disability claims in 1990 were due to back pain, compared to 29.2% in 1981 (Deyo, 1993).
