Differences in postoperative quality of life between adolescent patients with idiopathic scoliosis residing in urban and rural environments.

STUDY
DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional study.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of living environment, rural and urban, on the postoperative quality of life in adolescent patients with idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and to explore its causes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Many factors are capable of influencing the health-related quality of life of AIS patients including degree of the malformation, culture, treatment method, and the living environment of the patient.
METHODS: Postoperative AIS patients (n = 117, 16 males and 101 females) were divided into 2 groups (the urban group and the rural group). All patients completed the simplified Chinese version of the SRS-22 scale and the scores on the individual domain, and items were compared between the 2 groups.
RESULTS: The score on satisfaction of management domain in the urban group was higher than that in the rural group, but the score on the self-image/appearance in the urban group was significantly lower (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in function/activity, pain or mental health domain between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). Scores for items 12, 15, and 18 in the function/activity domain, items 4, 6, and 10 in the self-image/appearance domain, and item 22 in the satisfaction of management domain were significantly different between the 2 groups (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Living environment may influence the assessment results of the postoperative quality of life in AIS patients. The effects of environment (i.e., rural vs. urban) should be considered when using the SRS-22 scale to evaluate the quality of life of the patients.