Thomas Cheriyan, MD, from the New York Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues examined the correlation of unsatisfactory outcomes on compensation status in spine surgery patients. Data were included from 31 studies and a total of 3,567 patients. The studies compared outcomes between compensated and non-compensated patients in spine surgery.
Here are five key points:
1. The researchers found that the overall risk ratio of an unsatisfactory outcome was 2.12 in patients with versus those without workers’ compensation after surgery.
2. The risk ratio of an unsatisfactory outcome in patients with workers’ compensation was 2.09 in studies from Europe and Australia and 2.14 in studies from the United States.
3. Risk ratios of decompression-only procedures and fusion procedures were 2.53 and 1.79, respectively.
4. Forty-three and 17 percent of patients with workers’ compensation and without workers’ compensation, respectively, did not return to work.
5. In conclusion, workers’ compensation patients have a two-fold increase risk of an unsatisfactory outcome compared with non-compensated patients after surgery.
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