Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29246848›Full record

Trial reportThe spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society2018

Does reduction in sciatica symptoms precede improvement in disability and physical health among those treated surgically for intervertebral disc herniation? Analysis of temporal patterns in data from the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial.

Richard L Skolasky, Emily A Scherer, Stephen T Wegener, Tor D Tosteson

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Identification of Health Characteristics of People with Physical Disability by Applying the PRECEDE Model.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  4. SpineCloud: image analytics for predictive modeling of spine surgery outcomes.Journal of medical imaging (Bellingham, Wash.) · 2020
    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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Richard L SkolaskyDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University, 601 N. Caroline St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 N. Caroline St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. Electronic address: rskolas1@jhmi.edu.
Emily A SchererDepartment of Community and Family Medicine, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 1 Rope Ferry Rd, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Stephen T WegenerPhysical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 N. Caroline St, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Tor D TostesonDepartment of Community and Family Medicine, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 1 Rope Ferry Rd, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Dartmouth College · USJohns Hopkins Medicine · USJohns Hopkins University · US

Funding

Translational Engineering in Cancer (TEC)P30CA023108 · NCI · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI Steven D Leach · 1985 to 2026
$91.3M
LOW BACK PAIN--A MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED TRIALU01AR045444 · NIAMS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI WEINSTEIN, JAMES N · 1999 to 2013
$20.8M
Prognostic Value of Lumbar Spine MRIP60AR048094 · NIAMS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI TOSTESON, TOR D. · 2003 to 2007
$6.2M
Outcomes Calculators for Informed Decision Making in Back SurgeryP60AR062799 · NIAMS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI TOSTESON, TOR D · 2012 to 2016
$6.1M
Functional recovery in lumbar spine surgery: Influence of a brief Health BehaviorR01HS017990 · AHRQ · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI SKOLASKY, RICHARD L. · 2009 to 2012
$971k
Functional recovery in spinal stenosis: Understanding the activated patientR03HS016106 · AHRQ · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI SKOLASKY, RICHARD L · 2006 to 2006
$98k
AHRQ HHS R01 HS017990AHRQ HHS R03 HS016106NCI NIH HHS P30 CA023108NIAMS NIH HHS P60 AR048094NIAMS NIH HHS P60 AR062799NIAMS NIH HHS U01 AR045444
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background contextPain, pain-related disability, and functional limitations are common consequences of intervertebral disc herniation (IDH). We hypothesized that surgical treatment reduces pain, leading to improvement in pain-related disability and, ultimately, better physical health. PURPOSE: The present study aims to evaluate pathways for improvements in quality of life during the first year after surgery for IDH by studying temporal relationships between sciatica symptoms, pain-related disability, and physical health.

designThis is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial using an "as treated" dataset. PATIENT SAMPLE: The sample comprised 803 patients in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial. OUTCOME MEASURES: We used the Sciatica Bothersome Index, Oswestry Disability Index, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 physical component score.

methodsWe included 803 patients in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial who underwent elective decompressive surgery for IDH between 2000 and 2004. Sciatica, pain-related disability, and physical health were assessed preoperatively and at 3 and 12 months postoperatively using the Sciatica Bothersome Index, Oswestry Disability Index, and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 physical component score, respectively. Temporal associations of improvement in sciatica with pain-related disability and physical health were assessed using cross-lagged path analysis. p<.05 was considered significant. No funding was received in support of the present study. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

resultsPreoperatively, mean scores were 16.2±5.2 for sciatica, 54.2±20.7 for pain-related disability, and 29.8±8.4 for physical health. After adjustment for patient age and symptom duration, cross-lagged path analysis showed that sciatica reduction at 3 months was correlated with pain-related disability reduction at 3 months (ρ=.76, p<.001), and pain-related disability at 3 months was predictive of physical health at 12 months (β=-.33, p<.001) and sciatica at 12 months (β=.22, p<.001).

conclusionThree months after surgery, patients reported reduced sciatica and pain-related disability. Improvements in pain and pain-related disability occurred within 3 months. Early reduction in pain-related disability is important because path analysis indicated that disability at 3 months was predictive of sciatica and physical health at 1 year.

Indexed as

AdultAgedDiskectomyFemaleHumansIntervertebral Disc DegenerationLumbar VertebraeMaleMiddle AgedPostoperative PainSciaticaDisabilityFunctionLeg painLumbar spineSciaticaSurgery

Identifiers

PMID29246848
PMCPMC5997487
OpenAlexW2772047469

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.