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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

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References

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