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Quality of life, pain, and psychological factors in patients undergoing surgery for primary tumors of the spine

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Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge about quality of life (QOL), pain, and psychological factors in patients with primary tumors of the spine is limited, but is important in planning rehabilitation after surgery. Aims of this study were to assess the preoperative levels and improvement after surgery of these factors, and to identify the predictors of postoperative pain and QOL.

Methods

Patients with primary tumors undergoing spine surgery were matched for sex and age with patients with metastatic tumors. QOL was measured at baseline and three months after surgery with the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) components SF-12 subscales, pain intensity with a numeric rating scale (NRS), depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Preoperative SF-12, NRS, and BDI levels and differences in follow-up improvement in SF-12 and NRS were compared across samples. LASSO regressions were performed to find predictors of follow-up SF-12 and NRS.

Results

Patients with primary tumors showed better PCS and NRS, and similar BDI and MCS than patients with metastatic tumors. At follow-up, they showed stronger improvement in the MCS and no improvement in the PCS. All QOL scores were below those of the general population. Follow-up PCS was predicted by baseline PCS and BDI; MCS by baseline MCS; pain intensity by baseline pain intensity and BDI.

Conclusion

Patients with primary tumors of the spine suffer from moderate levels of physical and mental impairment. Depression influences surgical outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi, Milan, Italy

    Francesca Luzzati, Gennaro Maria Scotto, Giuseppe Perrucchini, Luca Cannavò & Andrea Colonna Cottini

  2. Catholic University of Milan, Department of Psychology, Milan, Italy

    Emanuele Maria Giusti & Gianluca Castelnuovo

  3. Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, San Giuseppe Hospital, Verbania, Italy

    Emanuele Maria Giusti & Gianluca Castelnuovo

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  1. Francesca Luzzati
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  2. Emanuele Maria Giusti
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  3. Gennaro Maria Scotto
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  4. Giuseppe Perrucchini
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  5. Luca Cannavò
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  6. Gianluca Castelnuovo
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Correspondence to Emanuele Maria Giusti.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Since this study is a retrospective analysis of routinely collected and anonymized data, approval from the ethics committee was not sought. Questionnaires and data collection methods were officially approved by the Healthcare management of the IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi (protocol no. IO.SPS.003 ver. 1 19.06.2014).

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Luzzati, F., Giusti, E.M., Scotto, G.M. et al. Quality of life, pain, and psychological factors in patients undergoing surgery for primary tumors of the spine. Support Care Cancer 28, 1385–1393 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04965-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04965-0

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