Correlation between Oxford Elbow Score and Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation: Is one simple question enough?

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Patient-Reported Outcome Measures
• Elbow Joint Assessment

Background:

• Limited research exists on the correlation between the Oxford Elbow Score (OES) and the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE).
• This study addresses the gap by evaluating the relationship between these two patient-reported outcome measures for elbow pathology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the correlation between the Oxford Elbow Score (OES) and the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE).
• To identify predictors of a higher correlation between OES and SANE in patients with elbow conditions.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 107 consultations from 86 patients with elbow pathology who completed OES and SANE.
• Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the relationship between OES and SANE.
• Mixed effects linear regression was used to identify predictors for correlation, including age, gender, diagnosis, chief complaint, and visual analog scale (VAS) pain levels.

Main Results:

• A high positive correlation was observed between SANE and OES (r = 0.903, P < .001).
• The strongest correlations were with the OES psychosocial (r = 0.885), function (r = 0.847), and pain (r = 0.804) domains.
• A moderate inverse correlation was found between SANE and VAS pain (r = -0.631), with VAS also predicting OES.

Conclusions:

• The Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) demonstrates a high correlation with the Oxford Elbow Score (OES).
• SANE is an accessible, license-free tool for evaluating elbow joint condition.
• SANE should be considered a valuable adjunct to current elbow assessment scores.