Insurance Status, Geography, Race, and Ethnicity as Predictors of Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery Rates and In-Hospital Mortality

Abstract

With the recent rise of anterior cervical spine procedures in the United States, substantial variation in the delivery of surgical care exists along a number of demographic factors. A detailed investigation of variation in surgical decision-making algorithms among spine specialists, as well as a determination of differences among patient populations in attitudes toward surgery, may help elucidate the trends observed in this study.