Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37106435›Full record

ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2023

Predicting patient-reported outcomes following lumbar spine surgery: development and external validation of multivariable prediction models.

Monika Halicka, Martin Wilby, Rui Duarte, Christopher Brown

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
–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

18 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Machine learning and neural network algorithms for prediction of C5 palsy after posterior surgery for ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament.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 · 2026
    Article
  2. Length of stay after lumbar decompressive surgery: prediction model, clinical reasons for prolonged stay, and association of prolonged stay with outcomes.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 · 2026
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  8. The Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) comes of age: 18 years of efficient and effective patient-reported outcome measurement in the field of spinal disorders. Part 1. Development of the COMI, interpretation of scores, and use in research.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
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  12. 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
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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.

Monika HalickaDepartment of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Martin WilbyDepartment of Neurosurgery, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK.
Rui DuarteLiverpool Reviews & Implementation Group (LRiG), University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Christopher BrownDepartment of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. cab79@liverpool.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study aimed to develop and externally validate prediction models of spinal surgery outcomes based on a retrospective review of a prospective clinical database, uniquely comparing multivariate regression and random forest (machine learning) approaches, and identifying the most important predictors.

methodsOutcomes were change in back and leg pain intensity and Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) from baseline to the last available postoperative follow-up (3-24 months), defined as minimal clinically important change (MCID) and continuous change score. Eligible patients underwent lumbar spine surgery for degenerative pathology between 2011 and 2021. Data were split by surgery date into development (N = 2691) and validation (N = 1616) sets for temporal external validation. Multivariate logistic and linear regression, and random forest classification and regression models, were fit to the development data and validated on the external data.

resultsAll models demonstrated good calibration in the validation data. Discrimination ability (area under the curve) for MCID ranged from 0.63 (COMI) to 0.72 (back pain) in regression, and from 0.62 (COMI) to 0.68 (back pain) in random forests. The explained variation in continuous change scores spanned 16%-28% in linear, and 15%-25% in random forests regression. The most important predictors included age, baseline scores on the respective outcome measures, type of degenerative pathology, previous spinal surgeries, smoking status, morbidity, and duration of hospital stay.

conclusionsThe developed models appear robust and generalisable across different outcomes and modelling approaches but produced only borderline acceptable discrimination ability, suggesting the need to assess further prognostic factors. External validation showed no advantage of the random forest approach.

Indexed as

Back PainOutcome Assessment, Health CareHumansLumbar VertebraePatient Reported Outcome MeasuresProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeLumbar spineMachine learningPatient-reported outcomesPrediction modelRandom forestRegistryRegressionSpinal surgeryValidation

Identifiers

PMID37106435
PMCPMC10134672

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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.