A new study published in Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine examines whether the Oswestry Disability Index is a good assessment for individual longer-term patient experience after lumbar spinal surgery.
The researchers examined data from 3,073 patients who underwent elective spine surgery for degenerative lumbar diseases from the N2QOD registry. The researchers found:
1. The three-month ODI scores had an 11.9±10.8 difference from the 12-month scores. Predictive modeling estimated 12-month ODI scores had a mean difference from the actual ODI scores of 10.7±9.
2. More than half — 64 percent — of patients achieved the minimal clinically important difference for ODI at three months, slightly lower than the 67 percent at 12 months.
3. There were 51 percent of the patients who achieved substantial clinical benefit for ODI at three months and 61 percent at 12 months.
4. Nearly 20 percent of the patients reported ODI scores that varied by at least 20 points from the three to 12 month values.
5. Positive and negative three-month ODI predictive values were 56 percent for MCID and 82 percent for SCB; at 12 months they were 60 percent for MCID and 67 percent for SCB.
6. The researchers concluded predictive methods for functional outcome based on the early patient experience "should be used to help evaluate the effectiveness of procedures in patient populations rather than serving as a proxy for long-term individual patient experience."
7. The prospective longitudinal registries should span 12 months, according to the study authors, to determine the spine care effectiveness for the individual patient and practitioner.