ArticleGlobal spine journal2022
Association of Medical Comorbidities With Objective Functional Impairment in Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease.
Article in Global spine journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- External Validation of the SITE Score for De Novo Spinal Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Comparative Analysis of Pedicle Screw Fixation and Interspinous Devices in Lumbar Spinal Fusion: Clinical and Surgical Outcomes in Degenerative Spine Conditions.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Article
- Significance of Preoperative Multidisciplinary Assessment with 30-Second Sit-to-Stand and Timed Up-and-Go Tests in Predicting Postoperative Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Development and internal validation of a risk score for subsidence of expandable spacers in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery.Brain & spine · 2025Article
- External validation of the smartphone-based 6-minute walking test in patients with degenerative lumbar disorders undergoing epidural steroid injection.North American Spine Society journal · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designAnalysis of a prospective 2-center database.
objectivesMedical comorbidities co-determine clinical outcome. Objective functional impairment (OFI) provides a supplementary dimension of patient assessment. We set out to study whether comorbidities are associated with the presence and degree of OFI in this patient population.
methodsPatients with degenerative diseases of the spine preoperatively performed the timed-up-and-go (TUG) test and a battery of questionnaires. Comorbidities were quantified using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) grading. Crude and adjusted linear regression models were fitted.
resultsOf 375 included patients, 97 (25.9%) presented at least some degree of medical comorbidity according to the CCI, and 312 (83.2%) according to ASA grading. In the univariate analysis, the CCI was inconsistently associated with OFI. Only patients with low-grade CCI comorbidity displayed significantly higher TUG test times (p = 0.004). In the multivariable analysis, this effect persisted for patients with CCI = 1 (p = 0.030). Regarding ASA grade, patients with ASA = 3 exhibited significantly increased TUG test times (p = 0.003) and t-scores (p = 0.015). This effect disappeared after multivariable adjustment (p = 0.786 and p = 0.969). In addition, subjective functional impairment according to ODI, and EQ5D index was moderately associated with comorbidities according to ASA (all p < 0.05).
conclusionThe degree of medical comorbidities appears only weakly and inconsistently associated with OFI in patients scheduled for degenerative lumbar spine surgery, especially after controlling for potential confounders. TUG testing may be valid even in patients with relatively severe comorbidities who are able to complete the test.
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