Background: The 24-item Early-Onset Scoliosis Questionnaire (EOSQ-24) and 22-item Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22) questionnaire measure health-related quality of life in patients with scoliosis. The EOSQ-24 has been recently validated in early-onset scoliosis (EOS), including congenital scoliosis (CS). The SRS-22 has been validated in idiopathic scoliosis. The EOSQ-24 is completed by the caregiver and the SRS-22 is completed by the patient. The primary purpose of this study was to compare the EOSQ-24 and SRS-22 in patients with CS. The secondary purpose was to compare scores by age and also in developmentally delayed patients. We hypothesized that the SRS-22 is appropriate for children with EOS from CS who do not have a diagnosis of developmental delay.
Methods: This was a prospective comparative study. A prospective institutional CS database was queried to identify patients who had the EOSQ-24 and SRS-22 completed at the same time point. Children without a diagnosis of developmental delay completed both questionnaires if they understood the questions, regardless of age. Otherwise, the caregiver completed both questionnaires. For the analysis, similar questions were matched so that the EOSQ-24 questions fit into the SRS-22 domains of Function, Pain, Mental Health, and Satisfaction. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were used to compare domain scores, with r≥0.70 indicating a strong relationship.
Results: The final study group included 98 patients. The average age at completion of the questionnaires was 9.5 years. A strong correlation was found for all domains except Satisfaction when the patient or caregiver completed both questionnaires. Subanalysis demonstrated the strongest relationship between domains in the age group 0 to 5 years. In developmentally delayed patients, a weak correlation was noted for all domain scores except Pain, which showed a strong correlation. There was a strong correlation for Pain and a weak correlation for Satisfaction domains across all subgroups.
Conclusions: The SRS-22 may be appropriate for children with EOS from CS who do not have a diagnosis of developmental delay. Our findings suggest that the results of previous studies that collected the SRS-22 and future studies that collect the EOSQ-24 can be correlated. It remains unclear which questionnaire is more suitable for developmentally delayed patients.
Level of evidence: Level I-diagnostic.