Table 2 Basic characteristics for the whole population of patients treated surgically for ulnar nerve entrapment at the elbow and sick leave length for the working population.
From: A prospective study of predictors of return to work after surgery for ulnar nerve entrapment
Total population n = 65 | Sick leave, weeks median [IQR] n = 49 | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | Higher age group (range 51–85 years) | 32 (49) | 7 [6] | 0.802* |
Lower age group (range 24–50 years) | 33 (51) | 6 [4] | ||
Sex | Women | 25 (38) | 6 [5] | 0.887* |
Men | 40 (62) | 6 [4] | ||
Preoperative symptom grade 1–5 | Grade 1 | 2 (4) | 6 [0] | 0.830** |
Grade 2a | 9 (14) | 7 [5] | ||
Grade 2b | 5 (8) | 4 [6] | ||
Grade 3 | 9 (14) | 8 [5] | ||
Grade 4 | 18 (28) | 6 [5] | ||
Grade 5 | 22 (34) | 7 [7] | ||
Preoperative McGowan | Grade 1 | 16 (25) | 6 [4] | 0.788** |
Grade 2 | 27 (42) | 6 [5] | ||
Grade 3 | 21 (33) | 7 [7] | ||
Smoking | Yes | 8 (12) | 6 [19] | 0.688* |
No | 57 (88) | 6 [4] | ||
Snus user a) | Yes | 21 (33) | 6 [5] | 0.105* |
No | 43 (67) | 7 [5] | ||
Previous or current pain issues | Yes | 15 (23) | 5 [5] | 0.265* |
No | 48 (74) | 7 [3] | ||
Previous contact with a pain clinic b) | Yes | 5 (8) | 6 [−] | 0.913* |
No | 58 (92) | 6 [4] | ||
Occupation | Non-manual labor | 16 (25) | 4 [5] | 0.025** (All groups) 0.003* non-manual vs manual (post-hoc) |
Manual labor | 28 (43) | 7 [3] | ||
Student d) | 2 (3) | 4 [–] | ||
Unemployed e) | 3(5) | 3 [−] | ||
Permanent sickness benefit | 3 (5) | N/A | ||
Retired | 13 (20) | N/A | ||
Preoperative sick leave c) | Yes | 6 (10) | 8 [11] | 0.200* |
No | 55 (90) | 6 [5] | ||
Type of surgery | Simple decompression | 57 (88) | 6 [4] | 0.851* |
Transposition | 8 (12) | 6 [2] | ||
Patient reported outcome 6w postoperatively | Improved (completely recovered or improved) | 58 (89) | 6 [4] | 0,590* |
Not improved (unchanged or worse) | 7 (11) | 6 [9] | ||
