Impact of Gender Disparities on Short-Term and Long-Term Patient Reported Outcomes and Satisfaction Measures After Elective Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Single Institutional Study of 384 Patients.
BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data determining the impact that gender disparities have on spine outcomes, particularly perception of health and satisfaction. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in 3-month and 1-year patient-reported outcomes and satisfaction after elective lumbar spine surgery. METHODS: This was a retrospectively analyzed study from a maintained prospective database of 384 patients who underwent elective lumbar spine surgery. Patients were categorized by gender (men, n = 199; women, n = 185). Patient-reported outcome instruments (Oswestry disability index, visual analogue scale-back pain/leg pain, EuroQol visual analogue scale, and EuroQol 5 dimensions questionnaire) were completed before surgery, then at 3 and 12 months after surgery along with patient satisfaction measures. RESULTS: Baseline patient demographics, comorbidities, and operative variables were similar between both cohorts. The female cohort had a slightly longer hospital stay than male cohort (P = 0.007). Baseline patient-reported outcome measures were different between both cohorts, with female patients having more Oswestry disability index (23.8 vs. 20.4; P ≤ 0.0001) and visual analogue scale-back pain (7.2 vs. 6.2; P = 0.0004), and a lower EuroQol 5 dimensions questionnaire (0.34 vs. 0.49; P = 0.0001) compared with the male cohort. At 1-year follow-up, the male cohort had a significantly more mean change in visual analogue scale-leg pain (-3.9 vs. -2.8; P = 0.04) and trended to have more mean change in visual analogue scale-back pain (-3.4 vs. -2.5; P = 0.06) and EuroQol visual analogue scale (8.6 vs. 3.4; P = 0.054) scores compared with the female cohort. At 1-year a significantly more portion in the male cohort found that surgery met their expectations compared with the female cohort (65.0% vs. 49.5%; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that there may be differences in perception of health, pain, and disability between men and women at baseline, short-term and long-term follow-up that may influence overall patient satisfaction.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Treatment Outcome
- Time Factors
- Sex Characteristics
- Retrospective Studies
- Prospective Studies
- Patient Satisfaction
- Patient Reported Outcome Measures
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Lumbar Vertebrae
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Treatment Outcome
- Time Factors
- Sex Characteristics
- Retrospective Studies
- Prospective Studies
- Patient Satisfaction
- Patient Reported Outcome Measures
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Lumbar Vertebrae