Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36795223›Full record

Observational studyActa neurochirurgica2023

Return to work after surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy: a nationwide registry-based observational study.

Vetle Vangen Lønne, Sozaburo Hara, Sasha Gulati, Lene Aasdahl, Øyvind Salvesen, Øystein Petter Nygaard, Tore Solberg, Karen Walseth Hara

Open access · hybridFull text readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Acta neurochirurgica, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. 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

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Vetle Vangen LønneDepartment of Neurosurgery, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. vetleva@ntnu.no.ORCID 0000-0002-3617-3734
Sozaburo HaraDepartment of Neurosurgery, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
Sasha GulatiDepartment of Neurosurgery, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
Lene AasdahlDepartment of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Øyvind SalvesenUnit for Applied Clinical Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Øystein Petter NygaardDepartment of Neurosurgery, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
Tore SolbergDepartment of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Northern Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Karen Walseth HaraDepartment of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology · NOUniversity Hospital of North Norway · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFew studies of high quality exist on return to work (RTW) rate after surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). This study aims to examine the RTW rate in patients undergoing surgery for DCM.

methodsNationwide prospectively collected data were obtained from the Norwegian Registry for Spine Surgery and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. The primary outcome was return to work, defined as being at work at a given time postoperatively without any medical income-compensation benefits. Secondary endpoints included the neck disability index (NDI) and quality of life measured by EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D).

resultsAmong 439 patients operated for DCM between 2012 and 2018, 20% of the patients received a medical income-compensation benefit one year before surgery. This number increased steadily towards the operation at which timepoint 100% received benefits. By 12 months after surgery, 65% had returned to work. By 36 months, 75% had returned to work. Patients that returned to work were more likely to be non-smokers and to have a college education. They had less comorbidity, more were without benefit 1-year pre-surgery, and significantly more patients were employed at operation date. Average days of sick leave in the year before surgery were significantly less in the RTW group, and they had a significantly lower baseline NDI and EQ-5D All PROMs reached statistical significance at 12 months, in favor of the group that achieved RTW.

conclusionAt 12 months following surgery, 65% had returned to work. At the end of the 36-month follow-up period, 75% had returned to work, 5% less than the working percentage in the beginning of the follow-up period. This study demonstrates that a large percentage of patients return to work after surgical treatment for DCM.

Indexed as

Return to WorkSpinal Cord DiseasesCervical VertebraeHumansQuality of LifeRegistriesTreatment OutcomeCervicalDegenerative cervical myelopathyReturn to workSpine surgery

Identifiers

PMID36795223
PMCPMC10006038
OpenAlexW4321002535

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
measurements read87
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.