Patient Reported Outcomes Following Surgery for Lumbar Disc Herniation: Comparison of a Universal and Multitier Health Care System

Abstract

Abstract INTRODUCTION Canada has a universal health care system that is government funded and access to specialist care requires a referral by general practitioners. The United States utilizes a blended public and private payer system where insured patients can directly access specialists. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there are differences in outcomes in the two systems. METHODS Surgical lumbar disc herniation patients treated between 2013 and 2016 in Canada that were enrolled in the Canadian Spine Outcome Research Network (CSORN) prospective multicenter registry. The Canadian cohort was compared with the surgical cohort enrolled in the Spine Patients Outcome Research Trial (SPORT) study. Baseline demographics and spine-related patient reported outcomes (PROs) were compared at 3 mo and 1 yr postoperatively. RESULTS The CSORN cohort consisted of 703 patients and the SPORT cohort was made up of 573 patients. The rate of females in each cohort was similar (47.2% vs 46.4%, P = .78), however, patients in the CSORN cohort were older (46.2 13.2 vs 41.6 10.9, P < .001), had a higher rate of smoking (32.0% vs 22.8%, P < .001), and were more likely to be employed (66.9% vs 61.3%, P = .034). The CSORN cohort had a slightly lower Owestry Disability score at baseline (50.515.1 vs 55.7 19.6, P < .01) but had a higher proportion of patients with a symptom duration greater than 6 mo (44.5% vs 21.1%, P < .0001). The CSORN cohort demonstrated significantly greater rates of satisfaction after surgery at 3 mo (74.8% vs 65.3%, P = .003) and 1 yr (81.4% vs 68.7%, P < .001). Improvements in back and leg pain followed similar trajectories. CONCLUSION Patients undergoing surgical treatment for lumbar disc herniation in Canada (CSORN cohort) reported higher rates of satisfaction at 3 mo and 1 yr postoperatively compared to the United States cohort (SPORT) despite having longer durations of symptoms prior to surgery.