The Association of Socioeconomic Factors with Treatment Following Sports Medicine Injuries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47265/cjim.v3i1.3685Keywords:
disparities, sports injuriesAbstract
Background: Socioeconomic and demographic variables including insurance provider, sex, language, and race, may influence evaluation or treatment of sports medicine injuries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate differences between demographic groups in receiving different interventions (referral to physical therapy, referral to orthopedics, or steroid injection) across an array of injuries.
Design: Retrospective study.
Level of Evidence: Level 4.
Methods: The records of patients at a major primary care sports medicine clinic in North Carolina from 2018 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed to determine whether the number of patients receiving each type of intervention—PT referral, orthopedic surgery referral, or steroid injection—differed based on insurance provider, sex, language, and race. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, and chi-square tests.
Results: Analysis of 2127 clinic patients showed those who received none of the three interventions were significantly younger (p<.001), male (p<.001), and African American (p<.05), while white patients and Medicare patients (p<.001) were more likely to receive one of the treatments. Across all injuries, PT referral was the most common first-line treatment. Medicaid patients were significantly more likely to receive an orthopedic referral as a first-line intervention compared to private insurance and Medicare patients (p<.001). No significant differences in first-line treatment were found by sex, primary language, or race.
Conclusion: Providers tended to pursue conservative treatment first. Age, sex, race, language, and insurance status were found to have a significant association with the treatments prescribed. Notably, African American patients were more likely to receive none of the interventions, and patients with Medicaid were more likely to be referred to orthopedics, a non-conservative treatment, as a first-line intervention.
Clinical Relevance: This study identified significant variation in the prescribed treatment for sports medicine injuries across different demographic groups.
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