Purpose Although physical therapy is the recommended treatment in patients over 45 years old with a degenerative meniscal tear, 24% still opt for meniscal surgery. The aim was to identify those... Show morePurpose Although physical therapy is the recommended treatment in patients over 45 years old with a degenerative meniscal tear, 24% still opt for meniscal surgery. The aim was to identify those patients with a degenerative meniscal tear who will undergo surgery following physical therapy. Methods The data for this study were generated in the physical therapy arm of the ESCAPE trial, a randomized clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of surgery versus physical therapy in patients of 45-70 years old, with a degenerative meniscal tear. At 6 and 24 months patients were divided into two groups: those who did not undergo surgery, and those who did undergo surgery. Two multivariable prognostic models were developed using candidate predictors that were selected from the list of the patients' baseline variables. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed with backward Wald selection and a cut-off of p < 0.157. For both models the performance was assessed and corrected for the models' optimism through an internal validation using bootstrapping technique with 500 repetitions. Results At 6 months, 32/153 patients (20.9%) underwent meniscal surgery following physical therapy. Based on the multivariable regression analysis, patients were more likely to opt for meniscal surgery within 6 months when they had worse knee function, lower education level and a better general physical health status at baseline. At 24 months, 43/153 patients (28.1%) underwent meniscal surgery following physical therapy. Patients were more likely to opt for meniscal surgery within 24 months when they had worse knee function and a lower level of education at baseline at baseline. Both models had a low explained variance (16 and 11%, respectively) and an insufficient predictive accuracy. Conclusion Not all patients with degenerative meniscal tears experience beneficial results following physical therapy. The non-responders to physical therapy could not accurately be predicted by our prognostic models. Show less
Introduction:Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are used increasingly, but for young patients with hip complaints, traditional scoring systems have a ceiling effect that limits their... Show moreIntroduction:Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are used increasingly, but for young patients with hip complaints, traditional scoring systems have a ceiling effect that limits their usability. We developed and validated the Super Simple Hip (SUSHI) score, a PROM specifically targeted at younger patients with hip complaints. Although the SUSHI measured hip problems adequately, the responsiveness of its activity rating component was considered inadequate. Consequently, we replaced the activity rating component by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity scale. The aim of this study was to validate the resulting new 10-item SUSHI-UCLA score.Methods:A prospective multicentre observational cohort study was performed. Patients between 18 and 59 years, who visited the Orthopaedic Department with hip complaints, completed the SUSHI-UCLA and hip osteoarthritis outcome score (HOOS) twice before their 1st appointment, and once 16 months after.Results:142 patients were included (mean age 49 years; SD 8.8). The SUSHI-UCLA score correlated well with the HOOS, both before and after treatment (Spearman's rho = 0.739 and 0.847, respectively, both p < 0.001). The responsiveness of both the SUSHI-UCLA score and the UCLA activity scale was high (standardised response mean = 2.51 and 1.35 respectively). The reproducibility was good (interclass correlation coefficient for agreement = 0.962). The minimal important change was 21.2. No significant floor or ceiling effect was observed.Conclusion:The SUSHI-UCLA score is an adequate PROM to measure hip complaints in younger patients and includes a validated activity rating. Show less
