Validating the VR-12 Physical Function Instrument After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion with SF-12, PROMIS, and NDI.

backgroundDevelopment and validation of Veterans RAND 12-item (VR-12) physical component survey (PCS) has been established among civilian and veteran populations but it has not been examined among anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) patients. PURPOSES/QUESTIONS: We sought to validate legacy patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) with VR-12 PCS among patients undergoing ACDF procedures.

methodsA prospectively collected surgical registry was retrospectively evaluated for elective single or multi-level ACDFs performed for degenerative spinal pathologies from January 2014 to August 2019. Exclusion criteria included missing pre-operative surveys and surgery for trauma, metastasis, or infection. Demographic variables, baseline pathologies, and peri-operative variables were collected. A paired

resultsOf the 202 patients who underwent ACDF, 41.1% were female and the average age was 49.5 years. All PROMs had statistically significantly increased from baseline when compared with post-operative timepoints (12 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years). MCID achievement rates increased through 2 years. All timepoints revealed strong VR-12 PCS correlations with SF-12 PCS, PROMIS-PF, and NDI scores.

conclusionVR-12 PCS was strongly correlated with the well-validated SF-12 PCS and NDI metrics as well as with the more recent PROMIS-PF. All PROMs demonstrated statistically significant improvement in patients post-operatively. VR-12 PCS is a valid measure of physical function among patients undergoing ACDF.