Life dissatisfaction is associated with depression and poorer surgical outcomes among lumbar spinal stenosis patients: a 10-year follow-up study.

Life satisfaction is associated with overall somatic health and the short-term surgical outcome in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients. In this study, the long-term relationship between life satisfaction and the surgical outcome in LSS patients was investigated in a 10-year follow-up. This prospective clinical study included 102 LSS patients who underwent decompressive surgery. They completed a set of questionnaires first preoperatively and then 6 times postoperatively (at 3 and 6 months, and at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years). The final study population at the 10-year follow-up comprised 72 patients. A four-item life satisfaction scale was used to measure global life satisfaction. The sum of all seven life satisfaction scores provided a measure of the life dissatisfaction burden over the entire 10-year follow-up. Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory. The surgical outcome was evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index, pain evaluation (visual analogue scale), self-reported walking capacity and overall satisfaction with the surgery. Both preoperative life dissatisfaction and the long-term life dissatisfaction burden were associated with poorer 10-year surgical outcomes (i.e. Oswestry Disability Index and visual analogue scale) in logistic regression analyses. Life dissatisfaction was also associated with symptoms of depression. Monitoring subjective well-being, especially life satisfaction and mood, in LSS patients before and after surgery may help in detecting those at risk of a poorer long-term surgical outcome.