Tracking patient-reported outcomes in spinal disorders.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Health Services Research
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) assess health status from the patient perspective.
• Increasing numbers of PROMs for spinal conditions create confusion regarding appropriate instrument selection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify commonly utilized PROMs in patients undergoing spinal surgery.
• To provide clarity on instrument selection for various spinal conditions.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a broad literature search in PubMed for PROMs in spinal surgery.
• Utilized keyword combinations of anatomical location and patient-reported outcomes.
• Supplemented search with 'related articles' and bibliography review.

Main Results:

• Identified major PROM categories: health-related quality-of-life, pain, and disease-specific disability.
• Highlighted the variation in minimal clinically important differences between instruments.
• Noted the increasing importance and challenge of accurately estimating costs linked to surgical interventions.

Conclusions:

• A limited number of PROMs are widely adopted for spine surgery outcomes.
• Recommend measuring at least one instrument from each category pre- and post-operatively.
• Emphasize selecting appropriate instruments while considering patient and administrative burden.