Assessing the Quality of Telephone Follow-Up After Spine Surgery

Aalborg University Hospital

Status

Enrolling

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Treatments

Other: In person post-operative physiotherapy follow-up

Other: Telephone post-surgery physiotherapy follow-up

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT07173413

K2025-124

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the quality of physiotherapy follow-up after spinal surgery can be maintained when conducted by telephone rather than in-person. The study is motivated by the desire to save healthcare resources and reduce the environmental impact of patient travel. Data from patient records, including age, sex, surgery procedure, use of pain medication, and time spent on either phone or in-person follow-ups, will be collected to evaluate whether telephone-based follow-up is an effective and sustainable alternative for post-operative care.

Full description

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and patient experience of telephone-based versus in-person physiotherapy follow-up after spinal surgery. Patients are allocated to one of two groups based on the day of the week they undergo surgery. This allocation determines whether the patient receives a follow-up assessment by telephone or in-person with a physiotherapist.

Following their assigned follow-up, patients are asked to complete questionnaires via REDCap regarding their satisfaction with the follow-up, regardless of the modality. These questionnaires also collect information on pain, physical function, and health-related quality of life. In addition to the initial assessment immediately after the follow-up, patients are sent the same questionnaires again at one and three months post-surgery.

The primary objective of the study is to compare outcomes between the two groups, evaluating whether telephone-based follow-up provides a comparable level of satisfaction, pain management, functional recovery, and quality of life to traditional in-person follow-up. The results will inform whether telephone follow-up is a viable and resource-efficient alternative to in-person assessments while maintaining high standards of post-operative care.

Enrollment

200 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients who have undergone lumbar spine surgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
Able to read and understand Danish.

Exclusion criteria