Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T21:20:39.337Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Lower Back Pain: Laminectomies, Spinal Fusions, Demographics, and Socioeconomics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2009

Judith D. Bentkover
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Public Health and Arthur D. Little, Inc.
Ruth H. Sheshinski
Affiliation:
The Central Bureau of Statistics, Jerusalem and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
John Hedley-Whyte
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Public Health and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Carol A. Warfield
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital
Frederick Mosteller
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Public Health

Abstract

The models and analyses used in this study represent an important step in the continued search for the optimum use of surgery for the treatment of lower back pain. The likelihood of patients who are hospitalized with lower back pain in Massachusetts receiving either laminectomies or spinal fusions or both was increased when any of the following demographic, socioeconomic, or medical characteristics were present: white, male, well insured, young, routine admission, admitted to a medium-sized hospital, admitted to a teaching hospital, admitted to a hospital with a high occupancy rate, and discharged home.

Type
General Essays
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.American Hospital Association. Guide to the health care field, 1985 edition. Chicago IL: American Hospital Association, 1985, A11824.Google Scholar
2.American Hospital Association. Guide to the health care field, 1986 edition. Chicago, IL: American Hospital Association, 1986, A11623.Google Scholar
3.Frymoyer, J. W.Back pain and sciatica. New England Journal of Medicine, 1988, 318, 291300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Nachemson, A. L. The future of low back pain research. In Frymoyer, J. W., & Gordon, S. L. (eds.), New perspectives on low back pain. Park Ridge, IL: American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 1988, 381–96.Google Scholar
5.Snedecor, G. W.Statistical methods. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1956.Google Scholar
6.Stipp, D.Low back pain gives up some secrets. Wall Street Journal, September 26, 1989, 214–B1.Google Scholar
7.U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, 1985. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1985.Google Scholar
8.U.S. Public Health Service, Health Care Finance Administration. International classification of diseases, 9th revision, clinical modification, 2nd edition. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986 (publication PHS-1260).Google Scholar
9.U.S. Public Health Service, National Center for Health Statistics. Detailed diagnoses and procedures for patients discharged from short-stay hospitals, United States, 1985. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1987 (publication PHS 87–1751).Google Scholar