@article{McGregor:2013:10.1007/s00586-013-2971-6,
author = {McGregor, AH and Dore, CJ and Morris, TP},
doi = {10.1007/s00586-013-2971-6},
journal = {European Spine Journal},
pages = {2836--2844},
title = {An exploration of patients' expectation of and satisfaction with surgical outcome},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00586-013-2971-6},
volume = {22},
year = {2013}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose The majority of studies of surgical outcomefocus on measures of function and pain. Increasingly,however, the desire to include domains such as patients’satisfaction and expectations had led to the development ofsimple measures and their inclusion into clinical studies.The purpose of this study was to determine patients’ preoperativeexpectations of and post-operative satisfactionwith the outcome of their spinal surgery.Methods As part of the FASTER randomised controlledtrial, patients were asked pre-operatively to quantify theirexpected improvement in pain and health status at 6 weeks,6 and 12 months following surgery using 100 mm visualanalogue scales (VAS), and to indicate their confidence inachieving this result and also the importance of thisrecovery to them. Patients were then asked to rate theirsatisfaction with the improvement achieved at each postoperativereview using 100 mm VAS.Results Although differences between patients’ expectationand achievement were minimal 6 weeks post-operatively,there was a clear discrepancy at 6 months and1 year, with patient expectations far exceeding achievement.There were significant correlations between failure toachieve expectations and the importance patients attachedto this recovery at each post-operative assessment, but notwith their confidence in achieving this result. Satisfactionlevels remained high despite expectations not being met,with discectomy patients being more satisfied thandecompression patients.Conclusions Patients’ pre-operative expectations of surgicaloutcome exceed their long-term achievement. Themore importance the patient attached to a good outcome,the larger is the discrepancy between expectation andachievement. Despite this, satisfaction levels remainedhigh. The impact of unrealistic expectations on outcomeremains unclear.
AU  - McGregor,AH
AU  - Dore,CJ
AU  - Morris,TP
DO  - 10.1007/s00586-013-2971-6
EP  - 2844
PY  - 2013///
SN  - 1432-0932
SP  - 2836
TI  - An exploration of patients' expectation of and satisfaction with surgical outcome
T2  - European Spine Journal
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00586-013-2971-6
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/27004
VL  - 22
ER  - 

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