Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21434763›Full record

ArticleActa orthopaedica2011

Health-related quality of life in patients with surgically treated lumbar disc herniation: 2- and 7-year follow-up of 117 patients.

Katarina Silverplats, Bengt Lind, Björn Zoega, Klas Halldin, Martin Gellerstedt, Lena Rutberg, Helena Brisby

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta orthopaedica, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. The effect of symptom duration on the outcomes of lumbar discectomy for radicular pain secondary to lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Construct validation of the Japanese Core Outcome Measures Index and the impact of diseases on patient-reported outcome measures in preoperative patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and disk herniation: a single-center observational study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2024
    Observational
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  12. Trajectory of health-related quality of life and its determinants in patients who underwent lumbar spine surgery: a 1-year longitudinal study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2018
    Article
  13. Multidimensional long-term outcome analysis after single-level lumbar microdiscectomy: a retrospective single-centre study.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Katarina SilverplatsDepartment of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Institute for Clinical Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. katarina.ronnberg@vgregion.se
Bengt Lind
Björn Zoega
Klas Halldin
Martin Gellerstedt
Lena Rutberg
Helena Brisby

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeHealth-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments have been of increasing interest for evaluation of medical treatments over the past 10-15 years. In this prospective, long-term follow-up study we investigated the influence of preoperative factors and the change in HRQoL over time after lumbar disc herniation surgery.

methods117 patients surgically treated for lumbar disc herniation (L4-L5 or L5-S1) were evaluated with a self-completion HRQoL instrument (EQ-5D) preoperatively, after 2 years (96 patients) and after 7 years (89 patients). Baseline data (age, sex, duration of leg pain, surgical level) and degree of leg and back pain (VAS) were obtained preoperatively. The mean age was 39 (18-66) years, 54% were men, and the surgical level was L5-S1 in 58% of the patients. The change in EQ-5D score at the 2-year follow-up was analyzed by testing for correlation and by using a multiple regression model including all baseline factors (age, sex, duration of pain, degree of leg and back pain, and baseline EQ-5D score) as potential predictors.

results85% of the patients reported improvement in EQ-5D two years after surgery and this result remained at the long-term follow-up. The mean difference (change) between the preoperative EQ-5D score and the 2-year and 7-year scores was 0.59 (p < 0.001) and 0.62 (p < 0.001), respectively. However, the HRQoL for this patient group did not reach the mean level of previously reported values for a normal population of the same age range at any of the follow-ups. The changes in EQ-5D score between the 2- and 7-year follow-ups were not statistically significant (mean change 0.03, p = 0.2). There was a correlation between baseline leg pain and the change in EQ-5D at the 2-year (r = 0.33, p = 0.002) and 7-year follow-up (r = 0.23, p = 0.04). However, when using regression analysis the only statistically significant predictor for change in EQ-5D was baseline EQ-5D score.

interpretationOur findings suggest that HRQoL (as measured by EQ-5D) improved 2 years after lumbar disc herniation surgery, but there was no further improvement after 5 more years. Low quality of life and severe leg pain at baseline are important predictors of improvement in quality of life after lumbar disc herniation surgery.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIntervertebral Disc DisplacementLumbar VertebraeMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementProspective StudiesQuality of LifeSurveys and QuestionnairesTreatment OutcomeYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID21434763
PMCPMC3235291

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Registered trials

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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.