Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of study subjects
| Characteristic | Low (0), total allergies (n=61) | Intermediate (1 or 2), total allergies (n=52) | High (>3), total allergies (n=24) | P value | Overall |
| Age, years (mean±SD) | 48±14 | 52±13 | 53±14 | 0.22 | 50±14 |
| Sex (n%) | |||||
| Female | 26 (43%) | 37 (71%) | 15 (63%) | 0.008 | 78 (57%) |
| Male | 35 (57%) | 15 (29%) | 9 (38%) | 59 (43%) | |
| Duration of ppain, years (mean±SD) | 5.8±8.4 | 4.1±6.1 | 6.9±7.1 | 0.24 | 5.3±7.4 |
| Type of epidural steroid injections (n%) | |||||
| Transforaminal | 32 (52%) | 26 (50%) | 11 (46%) | 0.86 | 69 (50%) |
| Interlaminar | 29 (48%) | 26 (50%) | 13 (54%) | 68 (50%) | |
| Opioid use (n%) | |||||
| None | 51 (84%) | 44 (85%) | 17 (71%) | 0.35 | 112 (82%) |
| <60 DME | 10 (16%) | 7 (13%) | 7 (29%) | 24 (18%) | |
| 61–180 DME | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| >180 DME | 0 | 1 (2%) | 0 | 1 (1%) | |
| Active duty (n%) | |||||
| None/civilian | 49 (80%) | 49 (94%) | 24 (100%) | 0.047 | 122 (89%) |
| Enlisted | 7 (11%) | 1 (2%) | 0 | 8 (6%) | |
| Officer | 5 (8%) | 2 (4%) | 0 | 7 (5%) | |
| Disability, worker’s compensation or medical Board* (n%) | 11 (18%) | 15 (31%) | 11 (48%) | 0.024 | 37 (28%) |
| Coexisting chronic pain condition (n%) | 31 (51%) | 31 (58%) | 18 (75%) | 0.12 | 80 (58%) |
| Coexisting fibromyalgia (n%) | 1 (2%) | 3 (6%) | 5 (21%) | 0.005 | 9 (7%) |
| Coexisting psychiatric condition (n%) | 24 (39%) | 25 (48%) | 13 (54%) | 0.41 | 62 (45%) |
| Average NRS back pain score (mean±SD) | 5.7±2.3 | 5.9±2.4 | 6.3±2.2 | 0.63 | 5.9±2.3 |
| Worst NRS back pain score (mean±SD) | 8.3±2.4 | 8.2±2.7 | 8.9±2.2 | 0.47 | 8.3±2.5 |
| Average NRS leg pain score (mean±SD) | 5.5±1.9 | 6.2±2.1 | 6.5±1.9 | 0.054 | 5.9±2.0 |
| Worst NRS leg pain score (mean±SD) | 8.2±1.5 | 8.7±1.8 | 9.2±1.2 | 0.037 | 8.6±1.6 |
| Oswestry Disability Score (mean±SD) | 38±17 | 43±16 | 50±17 | 0.007 | 42±17 |
*Military equivalent of civilian disability.
DME, daily morphine equivalents; NRS, numerical rating scale.