Affiliations: [a] University of Edinburgh, Edinburg, UK | [b] Scottish National Spine Deformity Centre, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, UK
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Athanasios I. Tsirikos, Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer - University of Edinburgh, Scottish National Spine Deformity Centre - Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Sciennes Road, Edinburgh EH9 1LF, UK. Tel.: +44 131 662 1265; Fax: +44 131 536 0924; E-mail:atsirikos@hotmail.com
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Quality of life measurements evaluate surgical results
from patients' reported outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of spinal deformity treatment using
the Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire. METHODS: SRS-22 data was collected in 545 consecutive patients (425
females-120 males) pre-operatively, 6-, 12- and 24-months post-operatively.
Variables included type and age of surgery (mean: 15.14 ± 2.07 years),
gender, diagnosis and year of surgery. Age at surgery was divided in: 10-12, 13-15, and 15-19 years. RESULTS: Mean pre-operative SRS-22 scores for the whole group were:
function 3.77 ± 0.75; pain 3.7 ± 0.97; self-image 3.14 ± 0.66;
mental health 3.86 ± 0.77; total 3.62 ± 0.66. Mean 2-year
post-operative scores were: function 4.39 ± 0.42; pain 4.59 ± 0.56;
self-image 4.39 ± 0.51; mental health 4.43 ± 0.56; satisfaction
4.81 ± 0.40; total 4.52 ± 0.37 (p< 0.0001). Males performed better at
2-years post-surgery (4.62 ± 0.25) compared to females (4.49 ± 0.39),
(p= 0.004). Patients with spondylolisthesis performed worse pre-operatively
(2.93 ± 0.26) compared to other diagnoses (p< 0.0001). This did not impact
2-year post-operative outcomes. There were no significant changes regarding
age or year of surgery, type of operation or between the 3 age groups. CONCLUSIONS: All individual domains and total SRS-22 scores
improved significantly with incremental change during post-operative
follow-up. Patient satisfaction was very high for all individual diagnosis.
2-year post-operative outcomes compared favorably to reported SRS-22 scores
in healthy adolescents.
Keywords: Spinal deformity, scoliosis, spinal fusion, quality of life assessment, patient satisfaction, Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire
