Investigators find post-spine surgery patient outcome and satisfaction scores are likely unrelated

LAS VEGAS — Patient data on outcomes and satisfaction were not correlated following spine surgery in a recently presented study, according to Amir Abtahi, MD, who presented the findings at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.

“We have to be careful not to blur the lines between outcomes and satisfaction when we are thinking about quality medical care,” Abtahi said.

Amir Abtahi

Abtahi and colleagues reviewed satisfaction and outcomes data from 231 patients after a single spine treatment at one surgical institution. Patients completed either the ODI (194 patients), Neck Disability Index (40 patients), or EuroQol-5D (231 patients) questionnaires.

The researchers then compared the outcome and satisfaction values with Spearman correlation coefficients.

Mean outcome scores among patients who completed the ODI, NDI and EQ-5D questionnaires were 33.4 points, 31.0 points and 0.7 points, respectively and, according to the findings, these values were not significantly correlated to the satisfaction scores for patients who completed the same questionnaires. The differences in results were 0.008, 0.113 and 0.0119, respectively.

“Ultimately, quality is a multifactorial concept which is somewhat subject in nature and can be understood differently by different people,” Abtahi said. – by Christian Ingram

Reference:

Abtahi A, et al. Paper #498. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 24-28, 2015; Las Vegas.

Disclosure: Abtahi reports no relevant financial disclosures.