Effect of Pre Operative Educational Guidelines on Postoperative Health Outcomes of Patients Undergoing CervicalSpine Surgery

Abstract

Cervical spine surgery is both a lifesaving procedure and a life-changing event. Individual responses to cervical disorders are varied and complex, and are influenced by a range of personal, clinical, social, physical and environmental factors. Aim:The aim of this studyis to evaluate the effect of educational guidelines on postoperative health outcomes of cervical spine surgery patients. Study design: a quasi-experimental study(Control and study groups; pre-test-post-test design).Subject: A purposive sampleof sixtypatients undergoing cervical spine surgerywas recruited from neurosurgicalunits at Ain Shams University Hospital. Toolsfor data collection: six toolswere used;self-administered patients' knowledge assessment questionnaire,patients' post cervical spine surgery practice observational checklists, visual-analog scale (VAS), pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), neck disability index (NDI)and short form-36 (SF-36). The results: This study found that,the majority ofthe cervical spine surgery patients had unsatisfactory level of knowledge and practicepre implementation oftheeducational guidelines thatsignificantly improved post implementingtheguidelines. Moreover,all patients showed significant improvement in all health-outcomes three months after surgery with mean changes between pre and post three months for NDI, VAS, PCS and F-36 scores were -14.41±12.09, -3.34±2.67, 7.24±9.01, 25.38±8.02 respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that the educational guidelines had positive effect on cervical spine surgery patients' postoperative health outcomes. Recommendation: The study recommended conducting a standard rehabilitation programs for improving cervical spine surgery patients' life style.