Course and characteristics of work disability 3 years before and after lumbar spine decompression surgery– a national population-based study

Despite decompression surgery being a widespread intervention for patients with dorsopathies (i.e. back pain) affecting the lumbar spine, the scientific knowledge on patterns and characteristics of work disability before and after the surgery is limited. Sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) were examined three years before and after surgery in 8558 patients aged 25–60 years who underwent lumbar spine decompression surgery in Sweden. They were compared to individuals with diagnosed dorsopathies but no surgery and individuals from the general population as matched comparison groups. According to Group Based Trajectory models, in patients with decompression surgery, 39% had low levels of SA/DP during the entire study period and 15% started with low levels of SA/DP, which increased in the year before, and declined to almost zero in the second year after surgery. Three trajectory groups (12%, 17%, and 18%) started at different levels of SA/DP, which increased in the years before, and declined in the third year after surgery. The trajectory groups in the comparison groups showed lower levels of work disability. Sex, education, and the use of antidepressants and analgesics the year before surgery played an important role to explain the variance of trajectory groups in patients with surgery.