title: Chronic pain treatment and health service utilization of veterans with hepatitis C virus infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is estimated to affect 2% of the general U.S. population and chronic pain is a common comorbidity among persons with HCV. The primary purpose of this study was to compare health service utilization of U.S. military veterans with HCV with and without the presence of comorbid chronic pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study with retrospective review of patient medical records.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred seventy-one U.S. military veterans with confirmed HCV, recruited through a single U.S. Veterans Administration hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical service utilization data from the past 5 years were extracted from participants' electronic medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-four percent of veterans with HCV (N = 110) had chronic pain. Veterans with HCV and chronic pain utilized more health services including total inpatient stays (odds ratio [OR] = 2.58 [1.46, 4.56]) and days hospitalized for psychiatric services (OR = 5.50 [3.37, 8.99]), compared to participants with HCV and no chronic pain, after statistically adjusting for demographic, psychiatric, substance use, medical comorbidity, and disability covariates. In addition, those with HCV and chronic pain had more total outpatient visits with primary care providers (OR = 1.73 [1.15, 2.59]), physical therapists (OR = 9.57 [4.79, 19.11]), and occupational therapists (OR = 2.72 [1.00, 7.48]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with HCV and chronic pain utilize medical services to a greater extent than patients with HCV but no chronic pain. Future studies that examine the efficacy of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological pain treatment for patients with comorbid HCV and chronic pain appear warranted.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health and Clinical Neurosciences Division, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. travis.lovejoy@va.gov
authors.forename: Travis I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Lovejoy
authors.forename: Steven K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dobscha
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cavanagh
authors.forename: Dennis C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Morasco
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014728:Veterans