The Influence of Unemployment and Disability Status on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Receiving Surgery for Low Back-Related Disorders: An Observational Study.

dc.contributor.author

Cook, Chad E

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Garcia, Alessandra N

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Shaffrey, Christopher

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Gottfried, Oren

dc.date.accessioned

2023-06-19T18:49:35Z

dc.date.available

2023-06-19T18:49:35Z

dc.date.issued

2021-01

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2023-06-19T18:49:35Z

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Introduction

Employment status plays an essential role as a social determinant of health. Unemployed are more likely to have a longer length of hospital stay and a nearly twofold greater rate of 30 day readmission than those who were well employed at the time of back surgery. This study aimed to investigate whether employment status influenced post-surgery outcomes and if so, the differences were clinically meaningful among groups.

Methods

This retrospective observational study used data from the Quality Outcomes Database Lumbar Registry. Data refinement was used to isolate individuals 18 to 64 who received primary spine surgeries and had a designation of employed, unemployed, or disabled. Outcomes included 12 and 24 month back and leg pain, disability, patient satisfaction, and quality of life. Differences in descriptive variables, comorbidities, and outcomes measures (at 12 and 24 months) were analyzed using chi-square and linear mixed-effects modeling. When differences were present among groups, we evaluated whether they were clinically significant or not.

Results

Differences (between employed, unemployed, and disabled) among baseline characteristics and comorbidities were present in nearly every category (p<0.01). In all cases, those who were disabled represented the least healthy, followed by unemployed, and then employed. Clinically meaningful differences for all outcomes were present at 12 and 24 months (p<0.01). In post hoc analyses, differences between each group at nearly all periods were found.

Conclusions

The findings support that the health-related characteristics are markedly different among employment status groups. Group designation strongly differentiated outcomes. These findings suggest that disability and unemployment should be considered when determining prognosis of the individual.
dc.identifier.issn

2432-261X

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2432-261X

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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/28118

dc.language

eng

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Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research

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Spine surgery and related research

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10.22603/ssrr.2020-0156

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employment

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low back pain

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registries

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spine

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unemployed

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The Influence of Unemployment and Disability Status on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Receiving Surgery for Low Back-Related Disorders: An Observational Study.

dc.type

Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Cook, Chad E|0000-0001-8622-8361|0000-0002-5045-3281

duke.contributor.orcid

Shaffrey, Christopher|0000-0001-9760-8386

pubs.begin-page

182

pubs.end-page

188

pubs.issue

3

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Duke

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School of Medicine

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Basic Science Departments

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Clinical Science Departments

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Institutes and Centers

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Orthopaedic Surgery

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Duke Clinical Research Institute

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Orthopaedic Surgery, Physical Therapy

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Neurosurgery

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Population Health Sciences

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Published

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5

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