Table 2.
Patient characteristics at baseline.
| DDD | HNP-No rad. | Stenosis | HNP-Rad. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 160 (36.9%) | n = 68 (15.7%) | n = 73 (16.9%) | n = 132 (30.5%) | Group comparison (p-value) | |
| Mean age (yrs.) | 41.8 | 41.1 | 42.7 | 41.4 | 0.83 |
| Age range (yrs.) | 20-65 | 19-65 | 24-61 | 20-62 | n.a. |
| Females (%) | 66.3 | 52.9 | 54.8 | 58.3 | 0.15 |
| Occupat. sedentary work (%) | 29.8 | 31.2 | 26.5 | 31.4 | |
| Occupat. physical work (%) | 48.6 | 50.8 | 52.9 | 55.1 | |
| Occupat. housewife (%) | 13.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 9.3 | 0.59 |
| Occupat. retired (%) | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.7 | |
| Occupat. unemployed (%) | 4.2 | 0 | 4.4 | 2.5 | |
| Work capacity 100% (%) | 71.2 | 81.8 | 58.2 | 69.5 | |
| Work capacity 50-90% (%) | 11.4 | 12.7 | 27.3 | 17.1 | 0.37 |
| Work capacity 10-40% (%) | 3.8 | 0 | 3.6 | 1.9 | |
| Unable to work (%) | 13.6 | 5.5 | 10.9 | 11.4 | |
| No preop. medication (%) | 3.6 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.3 | |
| Preop. NSAIDs (%) | 66.3 | 67.1 | 67.7 | 70.5 | 0.39 |
| Preop. opiates (%) | 30.1 | 28.2 | 30.1 | 28.2 | |
| L2/3 (%)* | 1.3 | 0.8 | |||
| L3/4 (%) | 9.7 | 2.9 | 5.6 | 1.5 | |
| L4/5 (%) | 47.1 | 39.7 | 45.8 | 48.5 | 0.10 |
| L5/S1 (%) | 41.9 | 57.4 | 48.6 | 49.2 | |
*3 cases, not part of the analysis; n.a. - not analysed