A new study published in Spinal Deformity examines patient-reported outcomes for adult spinal deformity.
The study authors examined 84 patient reported outcomes studies on adult spinal deformity from 2004 to 2013. The researchers found:
1. Patient-reported outcomes studies published increased from one in 2014 to 16 in 2013. There were 24 unique PRO studies.
2. The most frequently used instruments were:
• Oswestry Disability Index: 47.8 percent
• Scoliosis Research Society-22: 35.6 percent
• SRS-24: 21.1 percent
• Short Form-36: 13.3 percent
• Visual analog scale: 13.3 percent
3. The level of evidence was most often four — 42.9 percent of the time — and there weren't any level one studies on patient-reported outcomes for adult spinal deformity.
4. In around 16 percent of the articles using ODI, there were incomplete preoperative and postoperative PRO scores; the same was true for 58 percent of articles with SRS-24 and 22 percent of articles with SRS-22.
5. The article authors concluded that while the research increased over the past 10 years, the quality and standardization are still lacking. The only instrument routinely used for cost-effectiveness studies was the SF-36.