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Abstract
Background and purpose There have been few prospective reports on quality of life in patients treated surgically for scoliosis. We compared patients with idiopathic, congenital, and neuromuscular scoliosis.
Methods Data on 9- to 20-year-old patients were collected from the SweSpine registry. EQ-5D and (for a subset) SRS-22r were assessed preoperatively and after 1 and 2 years.
Results 211 patients had preoperative data: 168 with idiopathic, 11 with congenital, and 32 with neuromuscular scoliosis. Of the total, 158 patients responded to the 1-year follow-up and 149 responded to the 2-year follow-up. Preoperatively, the mean (SE) EQ-5D index was 0.76 (0.02) in the idiopathic group, 0.74 (0.07) in the congenital group, and 0.10 (0.06) in the neuromuscular group, and the SRS-22r index was 3.8 (0.1) in the idiopathic group, 4.0 (0.3) in the congenital group, and 3.3 (0.2) in the neuromuscular group. The mean EQ-5D increased by 0.06 points at 2 years in the idiopathic group, by 0.16 points in the congenital group, and by 0.15 points in the neuromuscular group. The mean SRS-22r index increased by 0.4 points at 2 years in the idiopathic group, by 0.4 points in the congenital group, and by 0.5 points in the neuromuscular group. The changes were statistically significant, with the exception of the congenital group. The number of patients who sustained at least 1 complication was 13 in the idiopathic group, 2 in the congenital group, and 9 in the neuromuscular group (p = 0.003).
Interpretation The general quality of life in the idiopathic and neuromuscular group improved after surgery.
AE: data analysis, drafting of and commenting on manuscript. PG: study design, hypothesis, data analysis, finalizing of manuscript.
Paul Gerdhem is currently the unpaid elected president of the Swedish Society of Spine Surgeons, a non-profit organization that is responsible for the operation and development of the SweSpine registry.
This study was financially supported by funds from the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research (ALF) between Stockholm County Council and the Karolinska Institute, and the Karolinska Institute research funds. We thank all the surgeons and patients who have contributed data to the spine deformity part of the SweSpine registry, and Carina Blom of the SweSpine Registry for assistance with data retrieval.