Poster 275: The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Meniscus Repair Outcomes

OBJECTIVES: Meniscus tears are among the most common knee injuries. Successful meniscus repair is vital to avoid articular cartilage damage and osteoarthritis. There are many factors that contribute to the outcome and prognosis of meniscus repair including patient and injury factors. The goal of this study was to identify demographic and socioeconomic factors that may influence patient outcomes after meniscus repair. It was hypothesized that income can impact meniscus repair outcomes. METHODS: Retrospective review identified patients who underwent meniscus repair surgery between 2009 and 2018 at a single academic institution. Patients were included if they lived in the local metropolitan area. Chart review was undertaken to collect demographic and surgical data. Patients were split into two groups: the 16 wealthiest zip codes and 16 poorest zip codes based on adjusted gross income from the internal revenue service (IRS) in 2018. Patients were included in the analysis if KOOS and IKDC scores were available. An independent t-test was used to determine the difference in scores between the two groups. RESULTS: 67 patients were included in the analysis. 23 were from low-income zip codes and 44 were from high income zip codes. The patients from the poorer zip codes had significantly lower KOOS and IKDC scores compared to patients from the wealthier zip codes. Chart review identified socioeconomic factors that limited access to care in the postoperative period in 5 patients from the poorer zip codes (21.74%). Among these patients 40% of them reported lack of access to physical therapy due inadequate insurance coverage, and 60% due to lack of transportation, inability to take time off work and personal or family problems. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic status may significantly impact outcomes, like KOOS and IKDC scores, following meniscus repair. Further work with larger dataset would provide more insight into this important question and allow for controlling of potential confounding variables.