THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINE FACTORS FOR THE EVALUATION OF DISABILITY IN NECK AND BACK INJURIES

This is the second article documenting the development of guideline factors for the evaluation of spine injuries by a committee supported by the Division of Industrial Accidents (DIA) in the State of California. The committee was asked to develop guidelines that incorporated cervical and thoracic spine injuries into the original guidelines developed for lumbar spine injuries (Clark et al, Spine 1988; 13:332). Multiple Independent Medical Examiners (IMEs) were requested to rate disability on 42 case reports submitted to the DIA. A tremendous variation existed in the disability rating recommended by physicians given the same set of facts. One hundred eighty-five IMEs then were asked to evaluate a series of potential factors influencing disability. Each factor was listed according to its perceived importance in determining disability. These factors then were subjected to an intensive search of the medical and scientific literature to determine their validity. A final list of 28 factors for the cervical and thoracic spine were developed and combined with the previously published factors for the lumbar spine. This led to the development of 37 factors or guidelines for the evaluation of spine disability. Testing of this schedule was performed by reviewing 159 submitted disability consultation reports. This review showed that there were no factors in the reports that were not included in the schedule. An average of 3.1 subjective factors and 2.3 objective factors were noted in the reports, with a very poor relationship between the number of factors and the level of disability given by the assessing physician. It is thought that the incorporation of the proposed guideline factors into the current disability rating system would allow for a more reproducible evaluation of disability and allow Workers' Compensation judges and administrators to make disability decisions based on documentable and reliable facts.