Responsiveness and minimal clinically important difference for pain and disability instruments in low back pain patients

BACKGROUND: The choice of an evaluative instrument has been hampered by the lack of head-to-head comparisons of responsiveness and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in subpopulations of low back pain (LBP). The objective of this study was to concurrently compare responsiveness and MCID for commonly used pain scales and functional instruments in four subpopulations of LBP patients. METHODS: The Danish versions of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the 23-item Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMQ), the physical function and bodily pain subscales of the SF36, the Low Back Pain Rating Scale (LBPRS) and a numerical rating scale for pain (0–10) were completed by 191 patients from the primary and secondary sectors of the Danish health care system. Clinical change was estimated using a 7-point transition question and a numeric rating scale for importance. Responsiveness was operationalised using standardardised response mean (SRM), area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and cut-point analysis. Subpopulation analyses were carried out on primary and secondary sector patients with LBP only or leg pain +/- LBP. RESULTS: RMQ was the most responsive instrument in primary and secondary sector patients with LBP only (SRM = 0.5–1.4; ROC = 0.75–0.94) whereas ODI and RMQ showed almost similar responsiveness in primary and secondary sector patients with leg pain (ODI: SRM = 0.4–0.9; ROC = 0.76–0.89; RMQ: SRM = 0.3–0.9; ROC = 0.72–0.88). In improved patients, the RMQ was more responsive in primary and secondary sector patients and LBP only patients (SRM = 1.3–1.7) while the RMQ and ODI were equally responsive in leg pain patients (SRM = 1.3 and 1.2 respectively). All pain measures demonstrated almost equal responsiveness. The MCID increased with increasing baseline score in primary sector and LBP only patients but was only marginally affected by patient entry point and pain location. The MCID of the percentage change score remained constant for the ODI (51%) and RMQ (38%) specifically and differed in the subpopulations. CONCLUSION: RMQ is suitable for measuring change in LBP only patients and both ODI and RMQ are suitable for leg pain patients irrespectively of patient entry point. The MCID is baseline score dependent but only in certain subpopulations. Relative change measured using the ODI and RMQ was not affected by baseline score when patients quantified an important improvement

Multiple level noncontiguous fractures of the spine

From 1970 to 2000, 81 patients with noncontiguous fractures of the spine were evaluated. Of these 81 patients, 36 had a neurologic deficit. Sixty-six patients with stable injuries were treated conservatively, whereas 15 patients with unstable injuries required surgical stabilization. There was no neurologic deterioration either in the patients who had surgical stabilization or in the patients who were treated conservatively. Thirteen patients with an A score on the American Spinal Injury Association neurologic impairment scale did not improve and had a high mortality rate (61.5%). Although multiple level noncontiguous fractures of the spine are uncommon, they constitute a threat to neurologic function, and therefore warrant radiographic evaluation of the entire spine with multiple injuries

Offset acetabular cups: A solution to wear?

Change of tribological properties has been the main goal in the effort to augment the longevity of total hip arthroplasty, while the reduction of forces acting across the artificial joint space has received little attention. Spurred by recent reports of wear behaviour and good clinical results of the offset low friction arthroplasty cups, the authors, using the simplified free body technique, estimated the resultant hip joint reaction force and the angle of its application on 100 individual anteroposterior pelvic radiographs, by templating on the same hip a conventional concentric cup and an offset eccentric one. The results showed a highly significant reduction (p < 0.0001) of the resultant hip joint reaction force in the offset group by 28.8% or 1.02 body weight and of the angle of the hip joint reaction force by 2.8 degrees. The authors believe that the reduction of the resultant hip joint reaction force in the offset cup group is the result of lowering and medialising the centre of rotation of the hip, a previously reported fact on non-clinically applicable conditions. They are also tempted to propose the generalized use of the offset type acetabular cup, since adverse events are not anticipated

Greek versions of the Oswestry and Roland-Morris disability questionnaires

Disability questionnaires are increasingly used for clinical assessment, outcome measurement of treatment and research methodology of low back pain. Their use in different countries and cultural groups must follow certain guidelines for translation and cross-cultural adaptation. The translation of such an instrument must be tested for its reliability and validity to be applied and to allow comparability of data. The Oswestry Disability Index and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire are two disability questionnaires most commonly used as outcome measures in patients with low back pain. The two questionnaires were translated for use with the Greek population, were back translated and tested, and became available in a final version. The Greek versions of the Oswestry Disability Index and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire were tested in 697 patients with low back pain. Internal consistency reliability for the Greek translation of the Oswestry Disability Index and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire reached a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.833 and 0.885 respectively. Face validity and content validity were ensured. Concurrent validity was assessed using a six-point pain scale as a criterion. The correlation of both scales was significant. The Greek translation of these disability questionnaires provided reliable and valid instruments for the evaluation of Greek-speaking patients with low back pain

Prediction of Cobb angle in idiopathic adolescent scoliosis

We did a prospective study of 291 children and adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis to identify possible correlations between clinical (scoliometer value, age, height) and radiographic (Cobb angle, Nash-Moe rotation, Risser iliac apophysis classification) parameters to predict the curve angle. There was a statistically significant correlation between thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar scoliometer values and the thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar Cobb angles, respectively (Pearson’s r-0.685, 0.572, and 0.677, respectively). There was a statistically significant correlation between Cobb angle in the thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar spine and the patients’ age and height. Mathematical formulas that predict the Cobb angle of thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar scoliosis using the scoliometer measurements are reported