Study design: A retrospective, population-based analysis.
Objectives: To analyze the relation between health outcomes and resources used by persons with back problems in an everyday setting.
Summary of background data: The Canadian Community Health Survey (2000) contains self-reported variables on change in health status, use of health resources, and socioeconomic characteristics of a population sample.
Methods: We use a health production function approach, in which we explore the association between change in health status and a series of utilization variables for persons with a single diagnosis of back pain using a regression equation. The independent variables include use of family physicians, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and exercise.
Results: Change in health status was negatively and significantly associated with family practice, chiropractic, and physiotherapy visits and positively associated with physical activity. The magnitudes of the results were small.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that exercise is an important factor in back problems, while persons who seek formal care do not improve.