Differences in the course of rehabilitation and outcomes for publicly insured pediatric patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

OBJECTIVE

Examine the effect of insurance type on physical therapy (PT) utilization and outcomes within pediatric and adolescent patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

DESIGN

Multicenter retrospective cohort study.

METHODS

PT visits and functional hop test performance were extracted into a shared database. The average number of PT visits per week was assessed overall and by time period. Independent samples t-test examined the effect of insurance on PT utilization and the effect of insurance status on the odds of passing single-legged hop tests was assessed using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 281 patients (15.7 ± 1.9, 42% female) were included in this analysis. Of these, 128 (45%) had public insurance. Publicly insured patients experienced a longer delay from surgery to hop test (8.3vs7.7 months, p = 0.009), attended overall fewer PT visits per week (0.92vs1.04, p = 0.005), with most of the decreased frequency occurring between weeks 7-24. Insurance status had a significant effect on the odds of passing the single leg hop test (2.72; 95%CI, 1.27-5.81).

CONCLUSION

Publicly insured patients average a lower number of weekly PT visits, experienced a longer delay from surgery to hop testing and were 2.7 times less likely to pass the single leg hop for distance test.