Objective
To investigate the effects of social restrictions imposed during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on postoperative functional recovery in patients who underwent surgery for degenerative musculoskeletal disorders.
Methods
This longitudinal prospective cohort study included 291 patients categorized into pre-pandemic (surgery in 2018), early pandemic (2019), and late-pandemic (2020) groups based on their 1-year recovery period. The primary outcome was improvement in locomotive syndrome (LS) status 1 year after surgery. We analyzed the association between social limitations and LS improvement using multivariate logistic and segmented regression analyses.
Results
The late-pandemic group exhibited the lowest LS improvement rate (50.6%) and the highest prevalence of postoperative social contact limitations (61.0%). Multivariate analysis identified the absence of postoperative social contact limitation as a highly potent independent predictor of LS improvement (odds ratio, 10.01; 95% confidence interval, 5.40–19.34; p<0.01). Segmented regression analysis revealed a time lag: social contact limitations peaked in March 2020, whereas the decline in LS improvement rates began in October 2020.
Conclusion
Prolonged social restrictions negatively impacted functional recovery, particularly during the late phase of the pandemic. Social participation, specifically direct social contact, could be a critical and independent component of postoperative rehabilitation. These findings underscore the need to integrate psychosocial assessments into standard postoperative care to optimize patient outcomes.

Objective
The aims of this study were to refer descriptive statistics of the disability duration in musculoskeletal injured patients in the automobile accidents. Method: The authors chose 469,319 injured patients in traffic accidents as subjects that met inclusion criteria with 8 representative Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) comparable with 4th edition of Korean standard classification of diseases. Mean, standard deviation, mode, median, maximum and minimum of 8 representative AIS code were calculated. Results: Mean disability duration for minor cervical sprain was 18.8 days, that of moderate cervical disc herniation was 56.2 days, that of serious cervical disc herniation was 141.5 days, that of minor lumbar sprain was 21.2 days, that of moderate lumbar disc herniation was 53.5 days, that of serious lumbar disc herniation was 128.1 days, that of sprain of 3 major joint in lower limb without desmorrhexis was 24.0 days, and that of dislocation or desmorrhexis of 3 major joint in lower limb was 101.2 days. Conclusion: Disability duration of the representative musculoskeletal diseases comparable to AIS code in 4th edition of Korean standard classification of diseases was presented and this study can be utilized as a basic recommended disability duration of automobile injured persons. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2006; 30: 646-654)