Health beliefs and rehabilitation after lumbar disc surgery.

Thirty per cent of patients fail to rehabilitate after back surgery. Pre-operative physical assessment cannot reliably identify these patients. A questionnaire assesses the health beliefs and extent of rehabilitation in 200 patients who have undergone a laminectomy. Objective medical data and ten subjective scales are analyzed, which correlate very highly with quality of rehabilitation. The questionnaire identifies 'at risk' individuals far better than objective physical findings, and it makes specific pathological attitudes clear. These attitudes can be used to direct existing post-operative care resources in an efficient way.