Maslak JP, Jenkins, TJ, et al. - This research was sought to assess the disease burden of sciatica on the US Medicare cohort. Researchers collected Medicare Health Outcomes Survey data for cohorts from 2007 to 2013. Individuals were divided into two categories based on the survey results: with or without a history of sciatica.  For each group, they estimated average VR-12 physical component summary and mental component summary scores at baseline and at 2-year follow-up. They applied a Fisher exact test to evaluate significance for categorical variables, and a t-test was applied for continuous variables. Compared with 750,083 patients (75%) without sciatica, the baseline cohort data of 1,000,952 patients yielded 250,869 patients (25%) who reported the diagnosis of sciatica. A 25% prevalence was distinguished in the Medicare cohort. Association were found between sciatica, an increased incidence of comorbid medical conditions and poor health-related quality of life.