Use of Hand Therapy After Distal Radius Fracture: A National Perspective

To assess whether certain distal radius fracture (DRF) patients, such as opioid users or complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) patients, receive more hand therapy.

Using the IBM MarketScan Research Databases from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016, we identified a cohort of DRF patients and created 4 subgroups of interest: frequent follow-up patients, persistent opioid users, prior opioid users, and patients with CRPS. We measured rates and demographic characteristics associated with therapy use in our populations of interest.

In this cohort of 87,313 patients, 21% received hand therapy after primary DRF treatment. Patients with CRPS had a higher rate of therapy than non-CRPS patients (44% vs 21%, respectively). Frequent follow-up patients used more therapy than those with less follow-up (30% vs 17%, respectively). Persistent opioid users demonstrated slightly increased therapy use compared to the remaining population (25% vs 22%, respectively). Prior opioid users underwent less therapy than patients without prior opioid use (19% vs 22%, respectively). Female sex, residing in the Northeast, being on a preferred provider organization plan, and having more intense surgical treatments were associated with increased therapy use.

This study showed variations in therapy use after DRF in subpopulations of interest. Patients with CRPS, persistent opioid use, and frequent follow-ups had higher rates of therapy. Patients with prior opioid use had lower rates of therapy.

Therapy is more common in patients with DRF with CRPS, persistent opioid use, or more follow-up visits.