Survey assesses patients' expectations after spine surgery

(HealthDay)—A new survey has been developed and validated for assessing patients' expectations of lumbar spine surgery, according to a report published in the Oct. 2 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Carol A. Mancuso, M.D., from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and colleagues developed and assessed a patient-derived expectation survey to examine patients' expectations of lumbar spine surgery. The survey was developed by interviewing 118 patients about their expectations and was administered twice to 56 patients to assess test-retest reliability. In a third phase, 21 final items were selected based on concordance of responses and clinical relevance, and a scoring rubric was developed.

The researchers identified 583 expectations, including 31 discrete categories, which formed the basis of the survey. The final survey addressed symptom relief, return to basic mobility, resumption of activities, and improvement in psychosocial well-being. Based on the number of expectations and the amount of improvement expected, an overall score was calculated ranging from 0 to 100 points, with a higher score indicating more expectations. In the test-retest reliability phase, the mean scores for both administrations were 66 and 65 points.

"We developed a patient-derived survey that is valid, reliable, and applicable to diverse diagnoses and includes physical and psychosocial expectations," the authors write.

One or more of the authors disclosed financial ties to an entity in the biomedical arena.

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