The Association of Waiting Time with Postoperative Health Care Use and Sickness Absences: A Register Study in Finland

The aim of this study was to examine the length of waiting time in elective knee, shoulder, hip, and lower back surgery, and how it was associated with sickness absence, use of health care, and work ability support services during 1 year after the surgery.

The patients (n = 429) were grouped by the elective surgery they had undergone. Waiting time was calculated as the time between the day of referral and the day of operation. The register data were analyzed with general linear regression.

The median waiting time for a knee operation (n = 287) was 98 days, for a shoulder operation (n = 105) 39 days, for a hip operation (n = 19), 177 days and for a lower back operation (n = 18) 114 days. The use of work ability support services increased after all the operations. A prolonged waiting time (> 90 days) for knee and shoulder operations was associated with the amount of sickness absence (IRR: 1.09, 95% CI 1.06-1.12; IRR: 0.86, 95% CI 0.82-0.89, respectively), secondary health care visits (IRR: 1.81, 95% CI 1.33-2.47; IRR: 2.28, 95% CI 1.50-3.47, respectively), and occupational curative care visits (IRR: 2.06, 95% CI 1.30-3.29) for shoulder operations. No association was found between a prolonged waiting time and work ability service visits during the year after the surgery.

The association of waiting time length with postoperative sickness absences and health care visits calls for taking actions to reduce the waiting times. Waiting should be considered as an active time aiming to prepare for the operation and the recovery.