Table 4.
Statistically Significant Baseline Demographic Characteristics, Comorbid Conditions, Clinical Findings, and Health Status Measures, by Adherence With Treatment Assignment
| Assigned to Surgery |
Assigned to Nonoperative Treatment |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) |
No. (%) |
|||||
| Surgery (n = 140) |
No Surgery (n = 92) |
P Value* |
Surgery (n = 107) |
No Surgery (n = 133) |
P Value* |
|
| Age, mean (SD), y | 40.1 (11.0) | 44 (12.6) | .01 | 41.9 (10.0) | 43.8 (12.3) | .21 |
| Annual income <$50 000 | 66 (47) | 27 (29) | .01 | 60 (56) | 54 (41) | .02 |
| Pain with straight leg raise (ipsilateral) | 94 (67) | 49 (53) | .05 | 72 (67) | 75 (56) | .11 |
| Herniation level‡ | ||||||
| L2-3/L3-4 | 4 (3) | 12 (13) | .01 | 5 (5) | 11 (8) | .45 |
| L4-5 | 50 (36) | 30 (33) | 41 (38) | 44 (33) | ||
| L5-S1 | 86 (61) | 50 (54) | 61 (57) | 77 (58) | ||
| SF-36 score, mean (SD)† | ||||||
| Bodily pain | 24.1 (16.7) | 31.7 (20.2) | .002 | 24.1 (16.8) | 28.9 (17.7) | .03 |
| Physical function | 35.9 (24.0) | 45.6 (25.3) | .003 | 33 (22.9) | 44.1 (26.9) | <.001 |
| Oswestry Disability Index, mean (SD)‡ | 51.7 (20.9) | 41.1 (20.7) | <.001 | 52.1 (19.2) | 41.6 (20.6) | <.001 |
| Sciatica indices, mean (SD)‡ | ||||||
| Frequency | 16.2 (5.2) | 15.1 (6) | .14 | 16.5 (5.5) | 14.6 (5.4) | .009 |
| Bothersomeness | 15.9 (4.8) | 14.8 (5.5) | .10 | 16.2 (5.0) | 14 (5.3) | .001 |
| Satisfaction with symptoms: very dissatisfied | 125 (89) | 59 (64) | <.001 | 92 (86) | 93 (70) | .005 |
| Patient self-assessed health trend: getting worse | 58 (41) | 24 (26) | .02 | 44 (41) | 35 (26) | .02 |
Abbreviation: SF-36, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey.
*
All other characteristics shown in Table 1 were not statistically significant.
†
Higher score indicates less severe symptoms. Range, 0-100.
‡
Lower score indicates less severe symptoms. Range for Oswestry Disability Index, 0-100; for sciatica indices, 0-24.