Table 3.
Comparison between the respondents who stated that consider the NASS criteria in their lumbar fusion indication algorithm and the respondents who do not consider
| Variable | All answers (N = 70) | Consider NASS (N = 42) | Do not consider (N = 28) | p-value† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total no. of NASS-discordant answers | 4.93 ± 2.01 | 5.10 ± 1.96 | 4.68 ± 2.09 | 0.395 |
| Fellowship training | 68 (97.1) | 41 (97.6) | 27 (96.4) | 1.000 |
| Years in practice | 0.212 | |||
| 0–5 | 28 (40) | 15 (35.7) | 13 (46.4) | 0.457 |
| 6–10 | 14 (20) | 11 (26.2) | 3 (10.7) | 0.138 |
| 11–15 | 91 (12.9) | 4 (9.5) | 5 (17.8) | 0.468 |
| 16–20 | 7 (10) | 6 (14.3) | 1 (3.5) | 0.23 |
| > 20 | 12 (17.1) | 6 (14.3) | 6 (21.4) | 0.524 |
| Region | ||||
| South | 20 (28.6) | 13 (30.9) | 7 (25) | 0.788 |
| Northeast | 19 (27.2) | 12 (28.6) | 7 (25) | 0.79 |
| Midwest | 16 (22.9) | 7 (16.7) | 9 (32.1) | 0.155 |
| West | 9 (12.9) | 7 (16.7) | 2 (7.1) | 0.299 |
| Canada | 6 (8.6) | 3 (7.1) | 3 (10.7) | 0.677 |
| NASS-concordant approach (> = 70% of NASS-concordant answers) | 44 (62.9) | 25 (59.5) | 19 (67.9) | 0.615 |
Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).
NASS, North America Spine Society.
†
Fisher exact test, t-test, or Mann-Whitney test, comparing the group who consider the NASS criteria with the group who do not consider.