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Insurance Status Predicts Hand Therapy Adherence Following Flexor Tendon Repair: A Retrospective Cohort Study".

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BACKGROUND Many patients are not adherent to hand therapy rehabilitation following surgical repair of traumatic flexor tendon injuries, which can negatively affect surgical outcomes and long-term hand function. We aimed… Click to show full abstract

BACKGROUND Many patients are not adherent to hand therapy rehabilitation following surgical repair of traumatic flexor tendon injuries, which can negatively affect surgical outcomes and long-term hand function. We aimed to identify the factors that predict patient non-adherence to hand therapy following flexor tendon repair surgery. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included 154 patients who underwent surgical repair of flexor tendon injuries at a level I trauma center between January 2015 and January 2020. A manual chart review was performed to collect demographic data, insurance status, injury characteristics, and details of the postoperative course including health care utilization. RESULTS Factors significantly associated with occupational therapy no-shows included Medicaid insurance (OR, 8.35; 95% CI, 2.91 to 24.0; p < 0.001), self-identified Black race (OR, 7.28; 95% CI, 1.78 to 29.7; p = 0.006), and current cigarette smoker status (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.18 to 6.15; p = 0.019). Patients without insurance attended 73.8% of their OT visits and patients with Medicaid attended 72.0% of their visits, which were significantly lower rates than those with private insurance 90.7% (p=0.026 and p=0.001, respectively). Patients with Medicaid were 8 times more likely to seek emergency department care postoperatively than patients with private insurance (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS Significant disparities in hand therapy adherence following flexor tendon repair surgery exist between patients with different insurance statuses, races, and tobacco use. Understanding these disparities can help providers identify at-risk patients to improve hand therapy utilization and postoperative outcomes.

Keywords: hand; flexor tendon; insurance; hand therapy; repair

Journal Title: Plastic and reconstructive surgery
Year Published: 2023

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