Surgical outcomes in French adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis: Responsiveness of the Scoliosis Research Society-22 Patient Questionnaire

Background: The Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) patient questionnaire is widely used to assess health-related quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Its responsiveness and Minimal Important Changes (MICs) have been studied in American and Spanish samples after surgical treatment with fair responsiveness. However, these data are lacking in the French population, limiting its use in both clinical and research settings. This study aimed therefore to evaluate the responsiveness and MICs of the SRS-22 in French adolescents undergoing AIS surgery. Hypothesis: The French SRS-22 provides responsiveness with fair estimates in the majority of the domains of this questionnaire. Methods: A total of 108 adolescents (88% females, mean age 14 years) were assessed before posterior fusion for AIS and at mid-term follow-up (12–36 months, average 19). Responsiveness was evaluated by anchor-based methods using the receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curves to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) values of each domain and estimate their MICs. Results: Pain, Self-Image, and Mental Health domains had fair AUC values exceeding 0.70, while the Function domain showed poor discriminative ability (AUC = 0.61). MICs ranged from 0.15 for Function to 0.35 for Pain. Conclusion: The SRS-22 showed responsiveness with fair estimates in the majority of its domains for assessing surgical outcomes of French adolescents with AIS. Caution is advised when interpreting changes in the Function domain. MICs estimates may help clinicians and researchers to value individual treatment outcomes. Level of evidence: III.