Use of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Outcome Measures in Lumbar Decompression...

Area of Science:

• Spine Surgery
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Degenerative lumbar spine diseases cause significant disability, often necessitating surgery.
• Traditional patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) like ODI and VAS have limitations.
• The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) offers adaptive testing to overcome PROM limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the use of PROMIS outcome measures in lumbar decompression surgery.
• To evaluate PROMIS domains for responsiveness, clinical meaningfulness, and predictive utility post-surgery.
• To assess correlations between PROMIS measures and legacy outcome instruments.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review following PRISMA 2020 guidelines.
• Searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus (Jan 2010 - Jan 2026) for relevant studies.
• Qualitative synthesis due to heterogeneity in data and methods.

Main Results:

• 45 studies (13,444 patients) met inclusion criteria; most were retrospective US-based studies.
• PROMIS Physical Function (PF) was most common; pain domains also frequently assessed.
• 88.9% of studies reported postoperative improvement in at least one PROMIS domain; PROMIS PF showed consistent responsiveness and correlation with legacy measures.

Conclusions:

• PROMIS measures, particularly PF and pain domains, are valuable for assessing recovery after lumbar decompression.
• PROMIS demonstrates responsiveness and correlates with traditional instruments, suggesting prognostic potential.
• Heterogeneity in current literature necessitates methodological standardization and prospective research for optimal PROMIS integration.