Physician referrals of patients with neck and low back pain for physical therapy in outpatient clinics: a cross-sectional study

Table 2 Distribution of prevalence rates (%) of referrals for low back pain by age and sex

Age group (years)	Men insured in HMO	Men average annual referrals ^a(%)	Women insured in HMO	Women average annual referrals ^a(%)	All insured in HMO	All insured average annual referrals (%)	Difference between men and women Z ratio	Low back pain compared with the total
Age group (years)	Men insured in HMO	Men average annual referrals ^a(%)	Women insured in HMO	Women average annual referrals ^a(%)	All insured in HMO	All insured average annual referrals (%)	Difference between men and women Z ratio	95% CI	95% CI
20–30	295,626	3377 (1.1%)	299,513	3466 (1.2%)	595,139	6844 (1.1%)	0.53	0.55 (p < 0.001)	0.53, 0.56
31–40	272,624	3383 (1.2%)	267,803	3390 (1.3%)	540,427	6773 (1.3%)	0.82	0.60 (p < 0.001)	0.58, 0.61
41–50	208,111	2697 (1.3%)	215,349	3850 (1.8%)	423,460	6547 (1.5%)	12.9***	0.74 (p < 0.001)	0.72, 0.76
51–60	164,013	3628 (2.2%)	210,743	6198 (2.9%)	374,756	9826 (2.6%)	10.7***	1.27 (p < 0.001)	1.24, 1.30
61–70	146,517	3867 (2.6%)	177,782	6948 (3.9%)	334,299	10,815 (3.2%)	23.4***	1.58 (p < 0.001)	1.54, 1.61
71–80	97,332	3342 (3.4%)	125,201	6487 (5.2%)	222,533	9829 (4.4%)	19.9***	2.18 (p < 0.001)	2.13, 2.23
> 80	52,582	1419 (2.7%)	79,150	2240 (2.8%)	131,732	3659 (2.8%)	1.42	1.35 (p < 0.001)	1.30, 1.39
Total (> 20 years)	1,236,805	21,713 (1.8%)	1,375,541	32,579 (2.4%)	2,612,346	54,292 (2.1%)	34.6***

Significant: ***p < 0.001
^aAnnual number of referrals divided by the number of insured persons in the same age group.
HMO, health management organization (Clalit Health Services), CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio

ISSN: 2045-4015