Factors Associated with Operative Treatment of De Quervain Tendinopathy.

BACKGROUND Geographic and doctor-to-doctor variations in care are a focus of quality and safety efforts in medicine. This study addresses factors associated with variation in the rate of operative treatment of de Quervain tendinopathy. METHODS We used a database including all patient encounters at 2 large medical centers, to study the experience of 10 hand surgeons and 1 physiatrist working in a hand surgery office in the treatment of 2,513 patients with de Quervain tendinopathy over a 12-year period. Survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare surgery rates and time to surgery. Cox multivariable regression analysis was applied to identify factors associated with operative treatment. RESULTS One hundred ninety nine (7.9%) patients had surgery. The odds of operative treatment were 1.7 times greater after corticosteroid injection and varied more than 10-fold among providers. There was substantial variation in the overall rate of surgery by provider. Corticosteroid injection delayed surgery slightly, but was associated with a higher rate of surgery. CONCLUSION Providers have substantial influence on treatment of de Quervain tendinopathy. The use of decision aids and other methods that help involve the patient in decision-making merit investigation as interventions to help reduce doctor-to-doctor variation.