Abstract
Study design
This is a cognitive interview study.
Objectives
To examine the applicability of the Patient Reported Outcome Spine Trauma (AO Spine PROST) in people with motor-complete traumatic or non-traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting
Two rehabilitation centers in The Netherlands.
Method
Semi-structured cognitive interviews were conducted with 29 adults with a motor-complete SCI (AISA Impairment Scale A or B). Participants were asked to complete the AO Spine PROST and four additional evaluation questions rated on a 1–5-point Likert scale (5 most positive), while verbalizing their thoughts about their answers. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Codes were identified and linked to a coding scheme. Qualitative data were used to interpret the quantitative results.
Results
Almost three-quarters of the participants (71.4%) had a traumatic SCI. Positive ratings of the measure were obtained regards comprehensibility (mean 4.0), non-offensiveness (4.6), relevance (4.2), and completeness (3.6). A question about the emotional impact of SCI was indicated to be missing. How using an assistive device should weigh in the score was a recurring topic. The use of multiple examples per item raised uncertainty, mostly solved by averaging their score. Some individuals indicated that the possibility to express even better function compared to before the onset of injury would be valuable.
Conclusions
Overall, the AO Spine PROST appears applicable in adults with a motor-complete traumatic or non-traumatic SCI. Recommendations are made for improvement in instructions, terminology, and examples used in the tool. This study contributes to the further development of the AO Spine PROST in spine trauma care and research.
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Data availability
The data analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank AO Spine International for their support. Also thanks to all participants for their invaluable information about the AO Spine PROST.
Funding
This study was organized and funded by AO Spine through the AO Spine Knowledge Forum Trauma, a focused group of international Trauma experts. AS Spine is a clinical division of the AO Foundation that is an independent medically guided not-for-profit organization.
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AJH collected the data, conducted the data analysis, and drafted the paper. TvD collected the data and provided feedback on the data analysis and the paper. SD contributed to data collection and data analysis and provided feedback on the paper. FCO designed the study and provided feedback on the paper. MWMP designed the study and provided feedback on the paper. SS designed the study and provided feedback on the paper.
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Hakbijl, A.J., van Diemen, T., Dompeling, S. et al. Applicability of the AO Spine Patient Reported Outcome Spine Trauma (PROST) in people with motor-complete spinal cord injury: a cognitive interview study. Spinal Cord 60, 911–916 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-022-00829-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-022-00829-3
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