Cited by 145Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationSpine and Intervertebral Disc PathologyCervical and Thoracic Myelopathy

Assessment of the Minimum Clinically Important Difference in the Timed Up and Go Test After Surgery for Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease

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Gautschi, Oliver P., Stienen, Martin N., Corniola, Marco V., Joswig, Holger, Schaller, Karl, Hildebrandt, Gerhard, Smoll, Nicolas R.·2017·Neurosurgery

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Timed Up and Go Test (TUG Test) has previously been described as a reliable tool to evaluate objective functional impairment in patients with degenerative disc disease. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) of the TUG Test. METHODS: The TUG Test (measured in seconds) was correlated with validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROs) of pain intensity (Visual Analog Scale for back and leg pain), functional impairment (Oswestry Disability Index, Roland Morris Disability Index), and health-related quality of life measures (Short Form-12 and EuroQol 5D). Three established methods were used to establish anchor-based MCID values using responders of the following PROs (Visual Analog Scale back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index, Roland Morris Disability Index, EuroQol 5D index, and Short Form-12 Physical Component Summary) as anchors: (1) average change, (2) minimum detectable change, and (3) change difference approach. RESULTS: One hundred patients with a mean ± SD age of 56.2 ± 16.1 years, 57 (57%) male, 45 patients undergoing microdiscectomy, 35 undergoing lumbar decompression, and 20 undergoing fusion surgery were studied. The 3 MCID computation methods revealed a range of MCID values according to the PRO used from 0.9 s (Oswestry Disability Index based on the change difference approach) to 6.0 s (EuroQol 5D index based on the minimum detectable change approach), with a mean MCID of 3.4 s for all measured PROs. CONCLUSION: The MCID for the TUG Test time is highly variable depending on the computation technique used. The average TUG Test MCID was 3.4 s using all 3 methods and all anchors.

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Crossref · 10.1227/neu.0000000000001320

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Authors
Gautschi, O. P., Stienen, M. N., Corniola, M. V., Joswig, H., Schaller, K., Hildebrandt, G., & Smoll, N. R.
Affiliations
  • University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
  • Kantonsspital St. Gallen (CH)
  • University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Smoll, Nicolas R.
Venue
Neurosurgery
Published
2017-01-13
Volume
80
Issue
3
Pages
380-385
ISSN
  • 0148-396X (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4040
OpenAlex
W2466306821
Cited by
143
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 8
FWCI
9.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • Neurosurgery (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Cervical and Thoracic Myelopathy
Keywords
Timed Up and Go test, minimal clinically important difference, lumbar degenerative disc disease, postoperative functional recovery, patient-reported outcome measures, anchor-based MCID, microdiscectomy, lumbar decompression, spinal fusion, Oswestry Disability Index, health-related quality of life, gait and balance
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Disability Evaluation, Female, Persons with Disabilities, Humans, Lumbar Vertebrae, Male, Middle Aged, Pain Measurement, Quality of Life, Treatment Outcome, Diskectomy, Decompression, Surgical, Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Visual Analog Scale

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