Single item on patients' satisfaction with condition provided additional insight into impact of surgery

To determine the value of a single item on patients' satisfaction with their condition for assessing outcome in four common surgical procedures.

Four cohorts undergoing surgery for inguinal hernia (715), varicose veins (539), hip (8,383), or knee (10,187) disease. Patients completed questionnaires before and after surgery that included a single item on satisfaction with their health (based on the International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS] Bother Question), disease-specific measures of symptoms/disability (Oxford Hip and Knee Scores, Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire), generic measures of symptoms/disability and of quality of life (QoL) (EQ [EuroQoL]-5D index), and single transitional items. Nonparametric Spearman's correlations explored relationships between measures.

Before surgery, in all conditions, satisfaction was associated with other dimensions (P<0.05): generic QoL (r=0.5-0.7), disease-specific symptoms/disability (r=0.6-0.8), and generic symptoms/disability (r=0.2-0.4). Significant improvements in satisfaction after surgery correlated strongly with change in disease-specific symptoms/disability (r=0.6 for major operations and r=0.35 for minor surgery) and with single transitional items (r=0.4-0.6) but less so with change in generic QoL (0.3-0.4) and generic symptoms/disability (0.1-0.2).

Inclusion of a single item on satisfaction provides additional insight into the impact of surgery.