Table 1.
Baseline Demographics and Clinical Characteristics of Participants.
| Surgery (n = 87) |
Physical Therapy (n = 82) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Age at enrollment, years, mean (SD)* | 66.6 (10.5) | 69.8 (9.0) |
| Male (n, %) | 44 (51) | 44 (54) |
| Height, cm, mean (SD) | 168.0 (12.5) | 170.7 (13.1) |
| Weight, kg, mean (SD) | 89.1 (19.9) | 91.0 (19.3) |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 31.5 (6.8) | 31.1 (5.4) |
| Race (n, %) | ||
| Caucasian | 83 (95) | 77 (94) |
| African American | 4 (5) | 5 (6) |
| Hispanic ethnicity | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Education level (n, %) | ||
| High school or less | 38 (44) | 40 (49) |
| Some college | 23 (26) | 21 (26) |
| College degree | 26 (30) | 21 (26) |
| Marital status (n, %) | ||
| Single | 1 (1) | 3 (4) |
| Married | 63 (72) | 59 (72) |
| Divorced/separated | 14 (16) | 8 (10) |
| Widowed/other | 9 (10) | 12 (15) |
| Employment situation (n, %) | ||
| Currently working | 22 (25) | 17 (21) |
| Unemployed | 4 (5) | 1 (1) |
| Retired | 50 (57) | 52 (63) |
| Disabled and/or retired due to health problems | 11 (13) | 12 (15) |
| Government programs currently enrolled (n, %) | ||
| Social security | 54 (62) | 63 (77) |
| Disability | 9 (10) | 10 (12) |
| Workers compensation | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
| Present Activity level (n, %) | ||
| Inactive/mildly active | 83 (95) | 74 (90) |
| Moderately/very active | 4 (5) | 8 (10) |
| Comorbidities (median, Q25 – Q75) | 1.0 (0.0 – 2.0) | 1.0 (1.0 – 2.0) |
| Cigarette smoker (n, %) | 8 (9) | 5 (6) |
| Current level of pain, mean (SD) | 6.8 (2.2) | 6.6 (2.2) |
| Depression score in BAI, mean (SD) | 9.3 (6.3) | 7.9 (4.5) |
| Length of back pain episode in days (median, Q25 – Q75) | 233 (136 – 602) | 282 (111 – 678) |
| Number of prior back surgeries not for same spinal segment (n, %) | ||
| No prior surgeries | 79 (91) | 65 (79) |
| 1 prior surgery | 7 (8) | 12 (15) |
| > 1 prior surgery | 1 (1) | 5 (6) |
| Number of prior series of PT for LBP, mean (SD) (n = 77) | 4.4 (5.7) | 4.4 (4.5) |
PT stands for Physical Therapy. LBP stands for Low Back Pain. BDI stands for Beck Depression Inventory. The BDI is a 21-item scale that measures symptoms of depression. Each item is scored from 0-3, with possible range of scores between 0-63. Higher numbers indicating greater severity of depressive symptoms.
*
p<0.05.