Aim

The incidence of posttraumatic osteomyelitis (PTO) is increasing in spite of new surgical techniques and development of new antimicrobial therapies. It has been difficult to assess outcomes of PTO because of the numerous risk factors involving the patients, trauma characteristics, surgical conditions, diversity of etiologic agents and long period of follow-up required to determine the effects of any treatment. We aim to identify factors predisposing to develop recurrence of chronic PTO.

Objective: To evaluate the use of standard outcome measures in assessing individuals attending a functional restoration programme with chronic back pain.

Design: Prospective collection of data from standard outcome measures used to assess patients attending a functional restoration programme. Data was collected before the start of the programme and six weeks, six months and one year after completion of the programme.

Subjects: There were 69 individuals (33 males and 36 females) with an average age of 41 years, who attended the programme from February 1999 to February 2001.

Outcome measures: Visual Analogue Score (VAS) for pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Short Form 36 (SF36), the Distress Risk Assessment Measures (MSP and MZDI)

Results: During the follow-up period, outcome scores showed only modest improvement compared to pre-programme scores. This was not necessarily reflected in the clinical and functional progress of patients.

Conclusions: Standard outcome measure may not necessarily reflect patient response to rehabilitation programmes.