• Andrew J Schoenfeld, Jon D Lurie, Wenyan Zhao, and Christopher M Bono.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 5005 N. Piedras St., El Paso, TX 79920, USA. ajschoen@neoucom.edu
• Spine. 2012 Aug 1; 37 (17): 150515151505-15.

Study DesignRetrospective review of the data collected prospectively through the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT).ObjectiveTo determine the effect that race or ethnicity had on outcomes after spine surgery in the 3 arms of SPORT.Summary Of Background DataThere is a dearth of research regarding the effect of race or ethnicity on outcome after treatment of spinal disorders.MethodsAll participants from the 3 arms of the SPORT were evaluated in an as-treated analysis, with patients categorized as white, black, or other. Baseline and operative characteristics of the groups were compared using the χ test and analysis of variance. Differences in the changes between baseline and 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year time points in the operative and nonoperative treatments were evaluated with a mixed effects longitudinal regression model, and differences between racial groups were compared with a multiple degrees of freedom Wald test.ResultsA total of 2427 patients (85% white, 8% black, and 7% other) were included. Surgery was performed on 67% of white patients, 54% of blacks, and 68% of others. Whites and others were significantly more likely to undergo surgery than blacks (67% and 68% vs. 54%, P = 0.003). Complications and the risk of additional surgeries were not significantly different between racial groups. Regardless of race, all patients improved more with surgical management than with nonoperative treatment for all outcome measures at all time points. The average 4-year area-under-the-curve results revealed surgical and nonoperative treatment resulted in statistically significant improvement in whites relative to blacks for SF-36 bodily pain (P < 0.001), physical function (P < 0.001), and Oswestry Disability Index (P < 0.001). No significant differences were noted in treatment effect for primary outcome measures or self-rated progress across racial groups.ConclusionThese results illustrate important differences between racial groups in terms of response to spine care. Although there were quantitative differences between groups, these findings are not necessarily indications of health care disparities.

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