Observational studyJournal of cardiothoracic surgery2026
Unlocking patient insights: a prospective study on patient reported outcome measures in thoracic surgery.
Observational study in Journal of cardiothoracic surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) offer the potential for enhancing treatment quality and supporting patient-centered care. However, it remains uncertain how effectively these measures correlate with clinical outcomes.
methodsThis prospective observational cohort study included 107 adult patients undergoing elective thoracic surgery. PROMs assessing anxiety, depression, and pain perception were collected preoperatively and at 6–12 months postoperatively using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ), and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Postoperative pain was assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and persistent pain at follow-up was defined as post-thoracotomy pain syndrome (PTPS). The primary endpoint was the longitudinal change in PROMs between preoperative assessment and follow-up. Secondary endpoints included subgroup analyses according to the type of surgical access (open and minimally-invasive), the type of locoregional anesthetic technique (epidural anesthesia, intercostal nerve block, local anesthetic infiltration), and the presence of acute and chronic postoperative pain (PTPS).
resultsPatients showed elevated scores at postoperative follow-up, with the exception of the HADS overall score, HADS-anxiety, and STAI, the latter of which demonstrated a significant decrease. No significant differences were found across subgroups based on procedure type, anesthesia method, or PTPS status, with the exception of a significant difference in HADS-depression scores in patients without PTPS.
conclusionsA decline in physical and psychological well-being was observed 6 to 12 months post-surgery, reflected in increased levels of pain, depression, and anxiety. Our study did not find evidence of an association between the PROMs assessed and variations in surgical procedures, anesthesia methods, or the presence of acute and chronic pain in this cohort.
trial registrationDRKS: DRKS00017798.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.