Article

PURPOSE : To examine the importance of preoperative and recovery phase depressive
symptoms in two age groups of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) with
respect to surgery outcome 2 years postoperatively.
METHOD: Ninety-six patients
with symptomatic LSS underwent decompressive surgery.
Data were collected with
self-report questionnaires before surgery and 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2
years postoperatively. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory
(BDI). Depressive burden was examined by compiling the sum of preoperative,
3-month and 6-month BDI scores. Physical functioning and pain were assessed with
the Oswestry Disability Index, Walking ability and VAS. In the analyses, the
subjects were divided into two groups according to the median age (62 years).
RESULTS: Depressive burden was a strong predictor of disability at the 2-year
postoperative phase both in younger and elderly patients with LSS. A notable
proportion (20%) of the younger patients had considerable depressive
symptomatology 2 years after the surgery, whereas in the older age group this
proportion was 8%. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that there is a strong
relationship between depressive symptoms and disability among postoperative
patients with LSS. Identifying and treating patients with preoperative and
postoperative depressive symptoms may be a useful strategy for improving LSS
surgery outcomes.

Langue : ANGLAIS