Data were collected from 427 participants with sciatica. Baseline in-person interviews were conducted with surgical and medical patients before treatment and by mail at 3 months.
For persons with sciatica, back pain-specific and general measures of health-related quality-of-life were compared with regard to internal consistency, construct validity, reproducibility, and responsiveness in detecting small changes over a 3-month period.
Study Design: This study analyzed health-related quality-of-life measures and other clinical and questionnaire data obtained from the Maine Lumbar Spine Study, a prospective cohort study of persons with low back problems.
Health-related quality-of-life measures included symptoms (frequency and bothersomeness of pain and sciatica) functional status and well-being (modified back pain-specific Roland scale and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and disability (bed rest, work loss, and restricted activity days).
These measures performed well in measuring the health-related quality-of-life of patients with sciatica. The modified Roland and the physical dimension of the SF-36 were the measures most responsive to change over time, suggesting their use in prospective evaluation. Disability day measures, although valuable for assessing the societal impact of dysfunction, were less responsive to changes over this short-term follow-up of 3 months.
Copyright remains with the authors and publisher.
Data were collected from 427 participants with sciatica. Baseline in-person interviews were conducted with surgical and medical patients before treatment and by mail at 3 months.
For persons with sciatica, back pain-specific and general measures of health-related quality-of-life were compared with regard to internal consistency, construct validity, reproducibility, and responsiveness in detecting small changes over a 3-month period.
Study Design: This study analyzed health-related quality-of-life measures and other clinical and questionnaire data obtained from the Maine Lumbar Spine Study, a prospective cohort study of persons with low back problems.
Health-related quality-of-life measures included symptoms (frequency and bothersomeness of pain and sciatica) functional status and well-being (modified back pain-specific Roland scale and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and disability (bed rest, work loss, and restricted activity days).
These measures performed well in measuring the health-related quality-of-life of patients with sciatica. The modified Roland and the physical dimension of the SF-36 were the measures most responsive to change over time, suggesting their use in prospective evaluation. Disability day measures, although valuable for assessing the societal impact of dysfunction, were less responsive to changes over this short-term follow-up of 3 months.
Copyright remains with the authors and publisher.