Table 4.
Patient-Centered Outcomes by Mesh Type
| Biologic mesh n = 33 | Synthetic mesh n = 36a | Mean difference (95% CI)b | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AW-QOL Scores (mAAS), mean (SD) | ||||
| Baseline | 42.3 (29.9) | 42.1 (30.5) | — | |
| Follow-up | 62.6 (27.4) | 70.0 (28.1) | −7.4 (−20.8 to 6.0) | 0.273 |
| Change | 20.3 (31.2) | 27.9 (31.3) | −7.6 (−22.6 to 7.4) | 0.316 |
| ANCOVA | — | −7.5 (−19.7 to 4.7) | 0.226 | |
| AW-QOL change category, No (%) | ||||
| Worsened (<7) | 5 (15.1%) | 4 (11.1%) | 1.36 (0.40–4.65)c | 0.747 |
| Improved (>7) | 22 (66.7%) | 27 (75.0%) | 0.89 (0.65–1.21)c | |
| No change | 6 (18.2%) | 5 (13.9%) | 1.31 (0.44–3.89)c | |
| Pain scores (VAS), mean (SD) | ||||
| Baseline | 6.2 (3.4) | 7.2 (2.9) | — | |
| Follow-up | 4.3 (3.3) | 4.0 (3.5) | 0.3 (−1.3 to 2.0) | 0.687 |
| Change | −1.8 (4.1) | −3.2 (3.5) | −1.4 (−3.2 to 0.49) | 0.148 |
| ANCOVA | — | 0.8 (−0.9 to 2.3) | 0.382 | |
AW-QOL = Abdominal wall quality of life; mAAS = Modified Activity Assessment Scale (range from 1 = poor to 100 = perfect, minimally clinically important difference [MCID] = 7), VAS = visual analog scale (range from 0 = no pain to 10 = worst possible pain, MCID = 1); SD = standard deviation; ANCOVA = analysis of covariance.
a
One patient did not complete the one-year post-operative survey.
b
Synthetic mesh represents the control for mean difference calculation.
c
Relative risk is reported instead of difference in median as variable is categorical.