Demographic predictors of patients’ satisfaction with their recovery after non-catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Orthopedic injuries can significantly negatively influence a patient’s physical and mental health. Achieving patient satisfaction with recovery is essential for reaching patient goals. Objective We aimed to investigate whether satisfaction with recovery can be predicted based on demographic information and baseline characteristics in people with non-catastrophic musculoskeletal trauma. Methods Participants (n = 100) with acute musculoskeletal injuries were recruited. The Satisfaction and Recovery Index (SRI) was used to assess the patient’s satisfaction with their recovery. A two-tailed Pearson correlation was performed to evaluate the correlation between the SRI scores and continuous variables. One-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test were used to assess whether there were any differences in the SRI scores between ordinal and nominal study variables, respectively. A multivariable linear regression model was created to determine factors independently associated with SRI scores for which all variables with P < 0.10 from the bivariate analysis were included. Results There was no association between the SRI scores and age (r = 0.13, P = 0.21), sex (F = 0.94, P = 0.22), educational level (F = 1.07, P = 0.30), number of people living with the patients (r = 0.05, P = 0.60), marital status (F = 0.20, P = 0.87), type of injury (F = 0.53, P = 0.67), injured body part (F = 1.91, P = 0.17), mechanism of injury (F = 0.62, P = 0.60), job(F = 0.47, P = 0.70), time since injury (r = 0.03, P = 0.73). Conclusions Demographic variables and baseline characteristics are not associated with the level of satisfaction with recovery among patients with non-catastrophic musculoskeletal trauma. Clinicians can use these findings to rule out these variables as contributors to low (or high) satisfaction with recovery. Future studies must assess the contribution of other probable and relevant psychological and social characteristics.