Analysis of court criteria for awarding disability benefits to patients with Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Chronic disability and its consequences for social life and employment are important but often neglected aspects of Crohn's disease. No specific scores have been developed to evaluate chronic disability in patients with Crohn's disease; the medical criteria used by government authorities to award disability benefits have not been analyzed. We aimed to determine the courts' criteria for awarding disability benefits to patients with Crohn's disease in Spain.

METHODS

We systematically searched case law databases in Spain's regional Supreme Courts to identify sentences regarding awards of disability benefits to patients with Crohn's disease. Selected decisions were reviewed to extract variables related to the awarding of benefits. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine which variables predicted the awarding of benefits.

RESULTS

Two hundred eighty sentences were reviewed. The rate of judicial decisions in favor of the claimants varied considerably between the various tribunals. Multivariate analysis showed that adequate description of the disease (odds ratio, 8.6), fecal incontinence (odds ratio, 8.9), the number of associated diseases (odds ratio, 2.3), and the presence of an ostomy (odds ratio, not estimable) were independent predictors of the awarding of Social Security benefits.

CONCLUSIONS

The amount of Social Security benefits awarded to patients with Crohn's disease varied depending on the tribunal. The most important predictors of a court's disability award were the adequate description of the patient's disease, fecal incontinence, associated diseases, and presence of an ostomy.