Table 2.
Baseline Patient Characteristics Associated With Workers’ Compensation Status for Patients in SPORT and NSN
| Variable | WC (N = 564) [N (%)] | Work-Eligible (N = 2878) [N (%)] | P* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 41 (10) | 46 (13) | <0.001 |
| Gender, female | 155 (27) | 1222 (42) | <0.001 |
| Ethnicity | 0.009 | ||
| White | 469 (83) | 2514 (87) | |
| Hispanic | 9 (2) | 28 (1) | |
| Black | 27 (5) | 140 (5) | |
| Other/mixed | 59 (10) | 196 (7) | |
| Education | <0.001 | ||
| Less than high school | 64 (12) | 106 (4) | |
| High school or some college | 384 (72) | 1343 (48) | |
| College graduate | 89 (17) | 1351 (48) | |
| Marital status, married/significant other | 371 (66) | 2051 (71) | 0.021 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2), [mean (SD)] | 28.1 (5.1) | 27.9 (5.2) | 0.003 |
| Smoking or recently quit† | 265 (47) | 699 (24) | <0.001 |
| Usual work hours/wk | 0.003 | ||
| ≥40 hr | 444 (81) | 2023 (72) | |
| 30–39 hr | 51 (9) | 377 (14) | |
| <30 hr | 53 (10) | 392 (14) | |
| Work weeks in past year‡ | <0.001 | ||
| 46–52 wk | 243 (45) | 2455 (86) | |
| 31–45 wk | 185 (34) | 264 (9) | |
| 15–30 wk | 63 (12) | 58 (2) | |
| <15 wk | 52 (10) | 85 (3) | |
| Physical requirements of daily responsibilities§ | <0.001 | ||
| Extremely strenuous | 227 (41) | 348 (12) | |
| Moderately strenuous | 245 (45) | 1254 (45) | |
| A little/not strenuous | 77 (14) | 1198 (43) | |
| Legal/attorney action pending or resolved | 197 (39) | 154 (6) | <0.001 |
| Very dissatisfied with current state | 483 (86) | 2220 (78) | 0.002 |
P values compare workers’ compensation (WC) and work-eligible patients using logistic regression models that control for study cohort (IDH and SpS), data source (SPORT and NSN), and initial treatment (surgical and non-operative).
Smoking or quit within 1 year (SPORT patients) or 6 months (NSN patients).
For NSN patients, derived calculating the time between the “date stopped working” and the “date returned to work.” Combined “work status” and “work loss dates” questions to identify the “no-work-loss” group.
For SPORT patients, derived from 4 questions about the importance of duties related to occupation or homemaking duties including lifting, standing, walking/climbing stairs, and driving. Considered extremely strenuous if responded “very important” to all 4 questions, a little/not strenuous if any question response “not important,” and moderately strenuous for other responses.