Health-related quality of life, including marital and reproductive status, of middle-aged Japanese women with posterior spinal fusion using Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: Longer than 22-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined long-term outcomes after posterior spinal fusion using Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation (CDI) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Most patients with AIS are female, and their main concern is how spinal fusion will affect their future life. This study aimed to investigate the long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL), including marital and reproductive status, of middle-aged Japanese women who underwent posterior spinal fusion using CDI for AIS in its earliest days in Japan.

METHODS: Japanese women who were younger than 20 years of age at the time of surgery using CDI, between 1985 and 1995, were targeted. Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, Oswestry Disability Index, Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire, and 36-Item Short-Form Survey (SF-36) were used to evaluate HRQOL. Marital and reproductive status were also investigated. These results were compared to those of healthy women controls and Japanese national data for 2015.

RESULTS: Of 87 female patients, 29 (33.3%) were included, with 71 healthy women as controls. The average age of the patient group was 42.7 years (range 37-48 years), and the average follow-up period was 27.5 years (range 22-32 years). HRQOL scores in the patient group were generally lower than that in the healthy control group, although there was no significant difference between the two groups in the role component summary score (RCS) of SF-36. Marital and reproductive status were not significantly different between patient and control groups, and results for the patient group were similar to Japanese national data.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of HRQOL in middle-aged patients who underwent posterior spinal fusion using CDI for AIS in Japan. Although HRQOL scores expect RCS of the patient group were lower than those of the healthy control group, the effects of posterior spinal fusion using CDI on women's social life and marital and reproductive statuses were minimal.