ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2023
Incidence of spine surgery in the South African private healthcare sector: ten-year trends within a large open medical scheme.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Qualitative Study of Factors That Influence Older Adults' Work on the Arduous Path to Spine Surgery.Health science reports · 2025Article
- The safety and efficacy of anti-inflammatory-impregnated gelatin sponge in spine surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Asian spine journal · 2024Article
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4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeStudies from developed countries suggest a dramatic increase in the utilization of spine surgery in recent decades, however less is known about spine surgery rates in the developing world. The aim of this study was to investigate ten-year trends in the incidence of spine surgery within South Africa's largest open medical scheme.
methodsThis retrospective review included adult inpatient spine surgeries funded by the scheme between 2008 and 2017. The incidence of spine surgery was investigated by age group-overall and for degenerative pathologies, fusion and instrumentation. Surgeons per 100,000 members were determined. Trends were evaluated by linear regression and by crude 10-year change in incidence.
resultsA total of 49,575 spine surgeries were included. The incidence of surgery for lumbar degenerative pathology showed a significant upward trend among 60-79 year olds but declined among 40-59 year olds. The incidence of lumbar fusion and lumbar instrumentation declined significantly among 40-59 year olds with little change among 60-79 year olds. The ratio of orthopaedic spinal surgeons decreased from 10.2 to 6.3 per 100,000 members whereas the ratio of neurosurgeons decreased from 7.6 to 6.5 per 100,000.
conclusionSpine surgery in the South African private healthcare sector bears some similarity to developed countries in that it is dominated by elective procedures for degenerative pathology. However, the findings did not reflect the marked increases in the utilization of spine surgery reported elsewhere. It is hypothesized that this may be partly related to differences in the supply of spinal surgery.
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