Finding a quick and easy way to measure effectiveness of treatment is important in today’s evidence-based medical practice. Doctors, nurses, and therapists must be able to show that treatment works, and that it’s the best treatment for the problem.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool to measure health outcomes. Health care professionals treat patients of all ages, backgrounds, and medical conditions. And overburdening patients with too much paperwork can be a problem.
In this study, physical therapists tested a self-report survey tool with two groups of patients. One group had cervical (neck) spinal disorders. The second group had lumbosacral (low back) spinal disorders. They used the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). This is a shortened version of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).
The 12-Item survey is a one-page questionnaire that assesses physical and mental health. They gave the SF-36 test and the SF-12 test to patients before and after spinal surgery. Only the pre-op test scores were analyzed for this study.
The researchers expected to find similar responses (and test scores) using these two tools between the two groups of patients. They also looked for any other factors that might influence health and explain any differences in results between the two groups.
They did, indeed, find a close correlation in the results between the two tests. This was true for everything except general health status. These results may be because the shorter test version did not ask as many detailed questions about age, smoking, and health history.
In general, the SF-12 was found to be a valid and reliable tool to use with patients who have spinal disorders. It’s fast and efficient. The clinician can still ask other questions about general health (age, other problems, tobacco use).