Evaluation of a Proactive Health Programme for Insured Persons with Persistent Back Pain: One-year Follow-up of a Randomised Controlled Trial

Background To facilitate access to evidence-based care for persisting back pain, a private medical insurance developed a health programme and offered it proactively to their members. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of this procedure. Methods The design of the study was a Zelen randomized controlled trial. Adult insured persons with persistent back pain were randomized to the control (CG) or intervention group (IG) prior to giving consent. The IG was invited to participate in the health programme, the CG in a survey. Primary outcomes were back pain intensity and disability (according to von Korff) and health-related quality of life (SF-12). At baseline, 12- and 24-month follow-up, outcomes were documented by identical online questionnaires. Results 552 of 3462 randomized insured persons agreed to participate in the study; 132 of 258 (51.2 %) from the IG and 243 of 294 (82.7 %) from the CG completed the questionnaires at the 12-month follow-up. Small beneficial effects were seen for 3 of 4 primary outcomes. Compared to the CG, the IG reported less severe pain intensity (38.6 vs 44.5; p = 0.001; d = 0.36) and less disability (1.6 vs 2.2; p = 0.002; d = 0.41). The IG scored better at the SF-12 physical health scale (43.6 vs 39.0; p < 0.001; d = 0.54); no beneficial effect was seen in the SF-12 mental health scale. Conclusions The pro-active health programme seems to be feasible and effective as determined by patient-reported outcomes. Final evaluation awaits cost analysis and the results of the 24-month follow-up.