Americans are spending more on treating back and neck pain than almost any other medical condition, a new research suggests. Total spending on spine treatments in the United States totalled nearly $86 billion in 2005, a rise of 65 percent from 1997.

That is in line with annual expenditures for major conditions, including cancer, arthritis, and diabetes.

Their study, conducted by researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle appears in the Feb. 13 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. However, all the spending on back and neck problems has not led to expected improvements in patient health.

Web MD quotes lead researcher Brook I. Martin as saying, "We did not observe improvements in health outcomes commensurate with the increasing costs over time."

"Spine problems may offer opportunities to reduce expenditures without associated worsening of clinical outcomes," he added.

The biggest surge in spending has been for drugs related to spinal treatments. In 2005, Americans spent an estimated $20 billion on drug treatments for back and neck problems, an increase of 171 percent from 1997, the study found.

The largest surge was for narcotic pain relievers, like OxyContin and other drugs, which increased more than 400 percent.

In 1997, about 21 percent of the adult population suffered from back or neck problems that limited their function. By 2005, that number grew to about 26 percent, after adjusting the numbers for an aging population.

Researchers attribute the sudden rise in back problems to rising obesity rates or excessive treatment of back problems that could also lead to more problems.