Impact of Insurance Type on Self-Reported Symptom Severity at the Preoperative Visit for Carpal Tunnel Release.

PURPOSE: Prior studies evaluated the impact of insurance type on access to hand care. However, there is limited literature quantifying whether patient symptoms are worse at the time of intervention. Our primary null hypothesis was that insurance type would not be associated with Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure Information System (PROMIS) Upper-Extremity (UE), Physical Function (PF), Pain Interference (PI), and Depression scores at the preoperative visit before carpal tunnel release (CTR).

METHODS

Between December 2016 and November 2018, patients with known carpal tunnel syndrome presenting to a tertiary academic hand clinic for the preoperative visit within 3 months of CTR, completed PROMIS UE, PF, PI, and Depression computer adaptive tests. Patient characteristics were recorded, including insurance type as commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, or workers' compensation. Multivariable linear regression was used to determine which variables were associated with PROMIS scores at the preoperative visit before CTR.

RESULTS

A total of 301 patients were included in the analysis. All PROMIS domains were significantly different by insurance type; Medicaid patients had the worst preoperative score for all domains in bivariate analysis. In multivariable linear regression modeling, commercial insurance was associated with better preoperative PROMIS UE, PF, PI, and Depression scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Commercial insurance is associated with significantly better preoperative PROMIS PF, PI, and Depression scores compared with other insurance types (ie, Medicaid, Medicare, and Workers' compensation). This may be the result of a number of factors, including differences in access to hand care or life circumstances that allow for only certain individuals to seek hand care early on in the disease process. However, further research is warranted to determine more definitively why this association exists.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic II.