Socioeconomic Status Affects Pre- and Postoperative Two-point Discrimination in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Background:
Carpal tunnel release is a life-changing procedure within hand surgery. Multiple factors may have an impact on the outcome following surgery.
Methods:
In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed all patients who underwent carpal tunnel release in our institutional database from 2018 to 2020. We included patients with a minimum of 6-week follow-up. Patient demographics were identified, including insurance status and comorbidities. Patients were categorized as “improved” or “not improved” based on two-point test differences. Results were analyzed using the Fisher exact test. We ran a logistic regression model to analyze the relationship between income status (operationalized by having Medicaid/Carelink) and preoperative scores, and inferential statistics were computed with appropriate t tests.
Results:
Of the 125 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 47 (37.6%) had Medicaid or Carelink, and 79 (62.4%) had commercial insurance. Medicaid/ Carelink patients presented with worse two-point discrimination on initial presentation (P
Source: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open - Category: Cosmetic Surgery Tags: Peripheral Nerve: Original Article Source Type: research
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