"A total of 391 patients completed a baseline and a 6 month follow up questionnaire regarding outcomes of treatment for back injuries while receiving disability compensation as part of the Maine Lumbar Spine Study. This was a prospective cohort investigation of patients treated surgically or nonsurgically for sciatica in Maine. Those receiving Workmen's Compensation (WC), as opposed to some other type of compensation program, were younger, more likely to be male, and less educated. They were also somewhat more likely to be treated nonsurgically. WC patients were less likely to have moderate or severe findings on imaging studies. WC patients reported worse symptoms and functional status than the others. Improvements in symptoms and functional status were reported by both the WC and other patients at 6 month followups, but there was less improvement in those receiving WC. Low back pain for WC patients was better relative to baseline in 45%, as compared to 67% of the other study subjects. Leg pain was better in 54% compared to 75%, respectively. Among the WC patients, disability at 6 months was less in persons treated surgically than in those treated nonsurgically. Nonsurgically treated WC patients were somewhat more likely to be still receiving disability compensation than surgically treated patients. Surgically treated WC patients were no more likely to be at their usual job or working full time than nonsurgically treated WC individuals."

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