Baseline characteristics of propensity score–matched cohorts by treatment group (N = 12,248).
| Characteristics | Total (N = 12,248) | PCDF (N = 6124) | ACDF (N = 6124) | P |
| Age, y | 1.0 | |||
| ≤64 | 4650 (38.0) | 2351 (38.4) | 2299 (37.5) | |
| 65–69 | 2826 (23.1) | 1424 (23.3) | 1402 (22.9) | |
| 70–74 | 2552 (20.8) | 1294 (21.1) | 1258 (20.5) | |
| 75–79 | 1628 (13.3) | 829 (13.5) | 799 (13.0) | |
| 80–84 | 744 (6.1) | 378 (6.2) | 366 (6.0) | |
| ≥85 | 187 (1.5) | 94 (1.5) | 93 (1.5) | |
| Sex | 1.0 | |||
| Men, | 6962 (56.8) | 3481 (56.8) | 3481(56.8) | |
| Women | 5466 (44.6) | 2733 (44.6) | 2733 (44.6) | |
| Race | 1.0 | |||
| White | 8500 (69.4) | 4250 (69.4) | 4250 (69.4) | |
| Black | 1508 (12.3) | 754 (12.3) | 754 (12.3) | |
| Hispanic | 62 (0.5) | 31 (0.5) | 31 (0.5) | |
| Other | 68 (0.6) | 34 (0.6) | 34 (0.6) | |
| Unknown | 2266 (18.5) | 1133 (18.5) | 1133 (18.5) | |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Smoking status | 2805 (22.9) | 1458 (23.8) | 1347 (22.0) | 0.02 |
| Depression | 4217 (34.4) | 2085 (34.0) | 2132 (34.8) | 0.37 |
| Anxiety | 3665 (29.9) | 1837 (30.0) | 1828 (29.9) | 0.86 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 3280 (26.8) | 1694 (27.7) | 1586 (25.9) | 0.03 |
| Chronic lung disease | 1403 (11.5) | 679 (11.1) | 724 (11.8) | 0.20 |
| Congestive heart failure | 1785 (14.6) | 960 (15.7) | 825 (13.5) | <0.01 |
| Coagulopathy | 929 (7.6) | 502 (8.2) | 427 (7.0) | 0.01 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 4906 (40.1) | 2374 (38.8) | 2532 (41.3) | <0.01 |
| Alcohol abuse | 684 (5.6) | 395 (6.5) | 289 (4.7) | <0.01 |
| Hypertension | 9846 (80.4) | 4900 (80.0) | 4946 (80.8) | 0.30 |
| Obesity | 3226 (26.3) | 1546 (25.2) | 1680 (27.4) | 0.01 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 8909 (72.7) | 4342 (70.9) | 4567 (74.6) | <0.01 |
| Hospital region | ||||
| Midwest | 2815 (23.0) | 1572 (25.7) | 1243 (20.3) | <0.01 |
| Northeast | 241 (2.0) | 141 (2.3) | 100 (1.6) | <0.01 |
| South | 8208 (67.0) | 3870 (63.2) | 4332 (70.7) | <0.01 |
| West | 1175 (9.6) | 636 (10.4) | 539 (8.8) | <0.01 |
Data presented as n (%).
ACDF, anterior discectomy and fusion; PCDF, posterior decompression and fusion.