An Analysis of Treatment Choices among White and African American Medicaid Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Plast Reconstr Surg
; 153(3): 649-655, 2024 Mar 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37184528
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common compressive neuropathy and has severe long-term effects on hand function if surgery is delayed significantly following diagnosis. The authors investigated the timespan between diagnosis and surgical intervention for carpal tunnel syndrome among African American and White patients on Medicaid.METHODS:
Using the MarketScan Truven Database Medicaid Supplement 2009 to 2020, the authors identified patients with CTS. Demographic data and time intervals between diagnosis and treatment were collected and analyzed using chi-square test and regression models.RESULTS:
A total of 361,942 African American and White Medicaid patients with a diagnosis of CTS were included in the study. Overall, 21.4% of White patients compared with 13.6% of African American patients chose surgery as their first and only option ( P < 0.001). A greater proportion of White patients underwent surgery less than 6 months after diagnosis compared with African Americans (75.5% and 67.7%, respectively; P < 0.001). African American women underwent surgery at a significantly lower rate compared with White women (13.8% and 21.8%, respectively); P < 0.001). Despite the increase in rates of surgery among both groups, the gap in use of surgery widened from a 6.6% difference in 2009 to a difference of 9.5% in 2020 between racial groups.CONCLUSIONS:
African American race and female sex are significantly correlated with choice of treatment and time to surgery among Medicaid patients with CTS. Identification of the relationship between health care disparities and the decision to undergo surgery is the first step in the development of strategies to mitigate underuse of this quality-of-life-improving procedure.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
Problema de saúde:
1_acesso_equitativo_servicos
/
1_desigualdade_iniquidade
Assunto principal:
Síndrome do Túnel Carpal
/
Medicaid
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Aspecto:
Equity_inequality
/
Patient_preference
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Plast Reconstr Surg
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article