Rating Scales for Spinal Related Disorders

초록

Objective Advancement and refinement in the treatment of spinal diseases largely depend on careful measurement of the results of evaluation or treatment as clinical trials invariably require measurement of the effect of a procedure or medication on a spinal disease process. Objective of this study was to review currently available neurological rating scales for various spinal related disorders used in clinical settings to provide insights and feedbacks on their use. Materials and Methods: We selected all published articles from three neurosurgical journals describing the neurological rating scales for spinal disease in recent five years. References articles included were Journal of Korean neurological society, Journal of neurosurgery, and Neurosurgery. Results There were 26 rating scales that were used in these journals for the evaluation and assessment of patients with various spinal disorers. All scales were reviewed with respect to usage, validation, advantages, and disadvantages. There were total of 1,502 articles that described variable neurosurgical rating scales for spinal related disorders. The major purposes of their applications (85%) were providing methods of measuring outcome of patients with spinal disorders. However, variety of other reasons were standardizing and rating the clinical status and comparison of pre- and post-treatment evaluation. Conclusion The primary consideration in scale selection remains how well the scale will accomplish the task at hand, reliability (accuracy), reproducibility (precision), and sensitivity largely determining the numbers needed in clinical trials. Use of accepted valid scales is important if trial results are to be widely accepted. Scale efficiency also affects costs and patient acceptance. Results of this study indicate that more universally applicable scales seem necessary in variety of spinal related disorders in future.

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