Private and Non-Private Disc Herniation Patients: Do they Differ?

In the 2006 yearly report from the Swedish National Register for Lumbar Spine Surgery it was claimed that international studies show obvious differences between private and non-private patients with regard to results from back surgery. Therefore our aim was to reveal such possible differences by com...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The open orthopaedics journal 2014, Vol.8 (1), p.237-241
Main Authors: Gregebo, Birgitta, Dai, Deliang, Schillberg, Birgitta, Baehr, Martin, Nyström, Bo, Taube, Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Lumbar disc herniation
non-private patients
outcome
private patients
prognostic factors
Statistics/Econometrics
Statistik
surgery
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Summary:In the 2006 yearly report from the Swedish National Register for Lumbar Spine Surgery it was claimed that international studies show obvious differences between private and non-private patients with regard to results from back surgery. Therefore our aim was to reveal such possible differences by comparing the two categories of patients at a private clinic. The material comprises 1184 patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation during the period of 1987 to 2007. Basic pre-operative data were obtained from the medical records and follow-up was performed by a questionnaire around 5 years post-operatively. Small but statistically significant differences between private and non-private patients were seen pre-operatively regarding the proportions of a/ men and women in the samples, b/ those with physically demanding jobs, c/ those on sick leave and d/ those with lumbar pain. Over the years the admitted private patients had a decreasing mean duration of symptoms which was not seen in the non-private patients. No apparent differences (n.s.) were seen between the two categories of patients pre-operatively regarding age, presence and level of leg pain or the proportion who smoked. Post-operative improvement in leg and lumbar pain was very similar in private and non-private patients as was satisfaction with the results and the proportion of patients returning to work. Despite small pre-operative differences concerning some variables and a significant difference in symptom duration between private and non-private disc herniation patients, the final clinical results were very similar.
ISSN:1874-3250
1874-3250
DOI:10.2174/1874325001408010237