title: The Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. a two-year follow-up of spine surgery patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  So far there is no golden standard for the measurement of functional disability in spinal problems. The Oswestry index can be used to monitor the response to treatment and rehabilitation. It is based on a patient's subjective impression of his or her own state of disability. The purpose of this prospective study is to give a graphic presentation of the behaviour of the Oswestry index in different spine surgery groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  The material includes 193 discectomy and decompressive operations. 37 of these patients had been operated earlier. The patients were observed for two years after the index operation through the mail with the Oswestry questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before an operation the average Oswestry index corresponded to severe disability on average. After successful treatment the Oswestry index dropped by 20-40 points on average. The more complex the problem the higher the postoperative lines remained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results compared well with those of earlier studies. The graphs presented in this study may help the treating clinician to make conclusions on how his or her patients are doing on average after surgery.
authors.affiliation: Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Department of Orthopaedics, Lahti, Finland. raimo.niskanen@pp.fimnet.fi
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Niskanen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome