The Influence of Preoperative Mood Disorders on Postoperative Complications and Healthcare Utilization in Adolescent Sports Injuries.

BACKGROUND: Recent trends show a rise in sports-related surgeries among adolescents, alongside an increase in mood disorders in this group, suggesting a complex interplay between psychological health and surgical recovery. This observation has underscored the need for a focused study on how preoperative psychological states influence postoperative complications in adolescent athletes.

HYPOTHESIS: Preoperative mood disorders negatively affect postoperative complications in adolescents undergoing sports-related surgeries.

METHODS: Using data from the Atropos Health Eos Dataset, this retrospective cohort study examined 6805 adolescents without mood disorders and 525 with mood disorders who underwent sports surgeries between January 2015 and August 2023. We analyzed the impact of preoperative mood disorders on early postoperative healthcare utilization, primarily follow-up visit attendance. We contextualized these findings alongside complication rates using multivariable logistic regression, propensity score matching, and standardized mean differences to control for baseline disparities.

RESULTS: Adolescents with preoperative mood disorders were significantly less likely to attend postoperative follow-ups (odds ratio [OR], 0.633; 95% CI, 0.469-0.853; P = 0.003), indicating potential challenges in engagement with postoperative care. There were no statistically significant differences in postoperative complications between the groups.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that mood disorders are not associated with a higher incidence of early postoperative complications but may contribute to lower adherence to postoperative follow-up care. This finding underscores the importance of identifying psychological factors that may affect healthcare engagement, and highlights the need for support strategies for adolescents with mood disorders.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Understanding how mood disorders may influence healthcare engagement and follow-up utilization can inform future screening and intervention strategies. Tailoring postoperative follow-up protocols to address the psychological needs of these patients may enhance overall outcomes and athlete satisfaction with their surgical recovery.

STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 2.