Parental satisfaction after single-event multilevel surgery in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to analyze parent satisfaction and factors affecting that satisfaction with single-event multilevel surgery outcomes in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.

METHODS

Two hundred seventy-nine ambulatory patients with cerebral palsy were enrolled in this study. Parental satisfaction after surgery was evaluated using a visual analog scale (0-10), and the explanatory variables were collected by chart review.

RESULTS

Overall mean (SD) satisfaction after surgery was 7.9 (2.0), with mean follow-up of 6.6 years. The parents of patients classified as Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level I cerebral palsy were more satisfied than parents of patients classified as GMFCS level II or III cerebral palsy (P = 0.029). Surgical satisfaction was higher for unilaterally involved patients than for bilaterally involved ones (P < 0.001). Multiple regression revealed predictors of satisfaction to be preoperative GMFCS level, diagnosis, age at surgery, and duration of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

We believe that this data can be used to help predict the level of parental satisfaction when planning single-event multilevel surgery in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II-Prognostic studies (investigating the effect of patient characteristic on the outcome of disease).