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Clinical findings as outcome predictors in rehabilitation of patients with sciatica

In rehabilitation of patients with sciatica, factors prognostic of long-term outcome could prove beneficial in interventions and in evaluating progress toward fitness or capacity for work. In this study results of physical examinations, carried out one year after hospital treatment for suspected lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, were related to outcome after five-years, as assessed by the categorization of occupational handicap of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH). The sample consisted of 276 patients admitted to hospital in the years 1980-1982. Based on established clinical indications 179 patients underwent lumbar disc surgery and the remaining 97 received further conservative treatment. One year after hospitalization a physician and physiotherapist examined the patients at the Rehabilitation Research Centre (RRC) of the Social Insurance Institution in Finland. In 1986 the patients returned to the RRC for further evaluation of their occupational handicap at that time. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that sensory deficits of legs, tenderness in lumbar extension, decreased repetitive trunk flexion performance (sit-up test), decreased lumbar lordosis and tightness of hamstrings were indicative of a poor outcome in the operated group. For the non-operated patients no statistically acceptable regression analysis model could be established.