Preoperative patient activation predicts minimum clinically important difference for PROMIS pain and physical function in patients undergoing elective spine surgery.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

Patient activation is a patient's willingness to take independent actions to manage their own health care.

PURPOSE

The goal of this study is to determine whether preoperative patient activation measure (PAM) predicts minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pain, physical function, depression, and anxiety for patients undergoing elective spine surgery.

STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Retrospective review.

PATIENT SAMPLE

A single-institution, academic database of patients undergoing elective spine surgery.

OUTCOME MEASURE

MCID at 1-year follow-up for PROMIS pain, physical function, depression and anxiety.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed a single-institution, academic database of patients undergoing elective spine surgery. Preoperative patient activation was evaluated using the PAM-13 survey, which was used to stratify patients into four activation stages. Primary outcome variable was achieving MCID at 1-year follow-up for PROMIS pain and physical function. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine impact of patient activation on PROMIS pain and the physical function.

RESULTS

Of the 430 patients, 220 (51%) were female with a mean age of 58.2±16.8. Preoperatively, 34 (8%) were in activation stage 1, 45 (10%) in stage 2, 98 (23%) in stage 3, and 253 (59%) in stage 4. At 1-year follow up, 248 (58%) achieved MCID for PROMIS physical function, 256 (60%) achieved MCID for PROMIS pain, 151 (35.28%) achieved MCID for PROMIS depression, and 197 (46%) achieved MCID for PROMIS anxiety. For PROMIS physical function, when compared to patients at stage 1 activation, patients at stage 2 (aOR:3.49, 95% CI:1.27, 9.59), stage 3 (aOR:3.54, 95% CI:1.40, 8.98) and stage 4 (aOR:7.88, 95% CI:3.29, 18.9) were more likely to achieve MCID. For PROMIS pain, when compared against patients at stage 1, patients at stage 3 (aOR:2.82, 95% CI:1.18, 6.76) and stage 4 (aOR:5.44, 95% CI:2.41, 12.3) were more likely to achieve MCID. For PROMIS depression, when compared against patients at stage 1, patients at stage 4 were more likely to achieve MCID (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR):2.59, 95% CI:1.08-6.19). For PROMIS anxiety, when compared against patients at stage 1, stage 3 (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR):3.21, 95% CI:1.20-8.57), and stage 4 (aOR:5.56, 95% CI:2.20-14.01) were more likely to achieve MCID.

CONCLUSION

Patients at higher stages of activation were more likely to achieve MCID for PROMIS pain, physical function, depression, and anxiety at 1-year follow-up. Routine preoperative assessment of patient activation may help identify patients at risk of poor outcomes.