Trial reportSpine2011
Lumbar disc herniation in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial: does educational attainment impact outcome?
Trial report in Spine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome-wide meta-analysis conducted in three large biobanks expands the genetic landscape of lumbar disc herniations.Nature communications · 2024Pooled it
- Predictors of success and satisfaction of nonsurgical therapy for stress urinary incontinence.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2012Trial
- Prognostic factors for treatment success of conservative management and role for physiotherapy in radicular pain caused by a lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review.Brain & spine · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Association Between Educational Status and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Presentations and Severity.Advances in orthopedics · 2025Article
- Article
- Lumbar disc herniation: what has the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial taught us?International orthopaedics · 2019Review
- Which Variables Are Associated With Patient-reported Outcomes After Discectomy? Review of SPORT Disc Herniation Studies.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2015Review
- Lumbar disk herniation surgery: outcome and predictors.Global spine journal · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
designRandomized trial with concurrent observational cohort. A total of 1171 patients were divided into subgroups by educational attainment: high school or less, some college, and college degree or above.
objectiveTo assess the influence of education level on outcomes for treatment of lumbar disc herniation. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Educational attainment has been demonstrated to have an inverse relationship with pain perception, comorbidities, and mortality.
methodsThe Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial enrolled surgical candidates (imaging-confirmed disc herniation with at least 6 weeks of persistent signs and symptoms of radiculopathy) from 13 multidisciplinary spine clinics in 11 US states. Treatments were standard open discectomy versus nonoperative treatment. Outcomes were changes from baseline for 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), bodily pain (BP), and physical function (PF) scales and the modified Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and yearly through 4 years.
resultsSubstantial improvement was seen in all patient cohorts. Surgical outcomes did not differ by level of education. For nonoperative outcomes, however, higher levels of education were associated with significantly greater overall improvement over 4 years in BP (P = 0.007), PF (P = 0.001), and ODI (P = 0.003). At 4 years a "dose-response" type relationship was shown for BP (high school or less = 25.5, some college = 31, and college graduate or above = 36.3, P = 0.004) and results were similar for PF and ODI. The success of nonoperative treatment in the more educated cohort resulted in an attenuation of the relative benefit of surgery.
conclusionPatients with higher educational attainment demonstrated significantly greater improvement with nonoperative treatment while educational attainment was not associated with surgical outcomes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.