Table 1.
Baseline Participant Characteristics
| Characteristic | Patients with Spinal Stenosis |
Patients with Degenerative Spondylolisthesis with Spinal Stenosis |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surgery (n = 394) | Nonoperative Management (n = 240) | P Value | Surgery (n = 368) | Nonoperative Management (n = 233) | P Value | |
| Mean age (SD), y | 63.6 (12.2) | 66.3 (10.5) | 0.004 | 64.7 (10.1) | 68.2 (10.3) | <0.001 |
| Women, n (%) | 152 (39) | 97 (40) | 0.71 | 255 (69) | 157 (67) | 0.69 |
| Non-Hispanic ethnicity, n (%) | 378 (96) | 227 (95) | 0.55 | 359 (98) | 228 (98) | 0.97 |
| Nonwhite, n (%) | 332 (84) | 201 (84) | 0.95 | 316 (86) | 190 (82) | 0.19 |
| Mean body mass index (SD), kg/m2 | 29.3 (5.3) | 29.9 (6.1) | 0.25 | 29.4 (6.5) | 28.8 (5.7) | 0.22 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 36 (9) | 26 (11) | 0.58 | 34 (9) | 17 (7) | 0.49 |
| At least some college education, n (%) | 245 (62) | 156 (65) | 0.53 | 247 (67) | 153 (66) | 0.78 |
| Annual income <$50 000, n (%) | 82 (21) | 40 (17) | 0.24 | 82 (22) | 55 (24) | 0.78 |
| Married, n (%) | 288 (73) | 158 (66) | 0.06 | 249 (68) | 147 (63) | 0.29 |
| Work status, n (%) | 0.19 | 0.93 | ||||
| Full- or part-time | 131 (33) | 67 (28) | 118 (32) | 74 (32) | ||
| Disabled | 40 (10) | 20 (8) | 33 (9) | 18 (8) | ||
| Homemaker | 76 (19) | 43 (18) | 103 (28) | 64 (27) | ||
| Other | 147 (37) | 110 (46) | 114 (31) | 77 (33) | ||
| Disability compensation status, n (%)* | 30 (8) | 18 (8) | 0.92 | 34 (9) | 7 (3) | 0.005 |
| Comorbid condition, n (%) | ||||||
| Osteoporosis | 30 (8) | 30 (12) | 0.06 | 40 (11) | 29 (12) | 0.65 |
| Heart problem | 95 (24) | 70 (29) | 0.19 | 65 (18) | 57 (24) | 0.06 |
| Stomach problem | 82 (21) | 57 (24) | 0.44 | 79 (21) | 54 (23) | 0.70 |
| Depression | 41 (10) | 29 (12) | 0.60 | 63 (17) | 35 (15) | 0.57 |
| Joint problem | 210 (53) | 136 (57) | 0.46 | 202 (55) | 142 (61) | 0.17 |
| Definite surgical treatment preference, n (%) | 188 (48) | 8 (3) | <0.001 | 162 (44) | 5 (2) | <0.001 |
| Perceive problem is getting worse, n (%) | 265 (67) | 113 (47) | <0.001 | 258 (70) | 103 (44) | <0.001 |
| Stenosis location, n (%) | ||||||
| Central | 338 (86) | 205 (85) | 0.99 | 341 (93) | 208 (89) | 0.20 |
| Lateral recess | 321 (81) | 182 (76) | 0.11 | 338 (92) | 208 (89) | 0.36 |
| Neuroforamen | 119 (30) | 88 (37) | 0.11 | 152 (41) | 91 (39) | 0.64 |
| Straight leg raise or femoral tension, n (%) | 85 (22) | 47 (20) | 0.62 | 48 (13) | 37 (16) | 0.39 |
| Any neurologic deficit, n (%) | 210 (53) | 139 (58) | 0.29 | 203 (55) | 124 (53) | 0.70 |
| Reflexes—asymmetrically depressed | 102 (26) | 66 (28) | 0.72 | 98 (27) | 52 (22) | 0.27 |
| Sensory—asymmetrical decrease | 116 (29) | 66 (28) | 0.66 | 108 (29) | 61 (26) | 0.45 |
| Motor—asymmetrical weakness | 104 (26) | 73 (30) | 0.32 | 87 (24) | 59 (25) | 0.71 |
| EuroQol EQ-5D U.S. health state value | 0.58 (0.2) | 0.66 (0.2) | <0.001 | 0.58 (0.2) | 0.65 (0.2) | <0.001 |
| Short Form-6D health state value | 0.58 (0.1) | 0.62 (0.1) | <0.001 | 0.58 (0.1) | 0.63 (0.1) | <0.001 |
| Short Form-36 subscale scores† | ||||||
| Bodily pain | 28.6 (16.2) | 36.6 (18.4) | <0.001 | 29.2 (16.8) | 34.4 (16.7) | <0.001 |
| Physical function | 31.7 (21.9) | 39.9 (24.5) | <0.001 | 30.5 (20.5) | 40.3 (23.9) | <0.001 |
| Vitality | 41.4 (21.8) | 44.4 (21.5) | 0.09 | 40.7 (22.4) | 47.8 (21.2) | <0.001 |
| Mental health | 68.2 (20.3) | 71.9 (19.4) | 0.02 | 69.3 (18.8) | 71.7 (18.9) | 0.13 |
| Social function | 52.5 (26.9) | 63.5 (27.7) | <0.001 | 55.3 (27.2) | 63.9 (28.3) | <0.001 |
| Role physical | 17.1 (30.6) | 22 (34.2) | 0.06 | 14.2 (26.8) | 24.6 (34.7) | <0.001 |
| Role emotional | 55.8 (45.8) | 63.7 (43.2) | 0.03 | 57.2 (43.8) | 64.4 (41.8) | 0.05 |
| General health | 66.9 (18.7) | 64.7 (20.4) | 0.15 | 68.2 (19.4) | 66.8 (19.8) | 0.39 |
| Mean Oswestry Disability Index score (SD)‡ | 46 (17.9) | 36.4 (17.9) | <0.001 | 45 (16.6) | 36.2 (18.5) | <0.001 |
| Mean Stenosis Bothersome Index score (SD)§ | 15.6 (5.4) | 12.3 (5.7) | <0.001 | 15.6 (5.5) | 13.3 (5.4) | <0.001 |
*
Receiving workers’ compensation, Social Security compensation, or other compensation, or application for compensation pending.
†
Higher scores indicate less severe symptoms.
‡
Lower scores indicate less severe symptoms.
§
Score range, 0–24.