Fitbit Pilot Study in Post-operative Lumbar Degenerative Spinal Stenosis Patients

Variability of the self-paced walking test

Participants will be included if they are 60 years of age and older, diagnosed with neurogenic claudication or radiculopathy secondary to central or lateral recess stenosis between L3-L5 confirmed by CT or MRI, and consent for surgical treatment. Include patients with Grade 1 spondylolithesis. Patients will be excluded if the stenosis was not degenerative (i.e. traumatic stenosis from a pathologic fracture), they had inflammatory spine disease, they had peripheral arterial disease, or pulmonary or circulatory diseases for which exercise is contraindicated, osteoarthritis in the lower extremities, severe or progressive neurologic deficit requiring urgent surgery, cancer, previous lumbar surgery, they have no access to a computer or mobile device, an inability to complete the questionnaires or provide follow-up (i.e. lack of permanent address, substance abuse, interfering psychiatric illness).

Self-paced walk test (SPWT) is a validated measure of walking capacity in lumbar degenerative spinal stenosis. The individual walks comfortably at his/her own pace until he/she must rest due to symptoms of back or leg pain. The total time and distance walked is recorded, time/distance to onset of symptoms, and nature and location of symptoms (pain numbness/tingling, weakness or fatigue), average walking speed, and reason for termination (symptoms of LSS, fatigue, shortness of breath, pain, other comorbidities). Patients are not permitted to use an assistive device. The test is either self-terminated (complete stop of 3 seconds or more) due to symptoms or at 30 minutes whichever occurs first. Participants are asked to indicate when they first experience symptoms.

Comparison of Fitbit activity data of steps taken between groups

Numeric Rating Score for Leg Pain. The (NRS) for leg pain numeric rating scale ranges from 0 to 10, with lower scores indicating less severe symptoms

Numeric Rating Score for Back Pain. The (NRS) for back pain numeric rating scale ranges from 0 to 10, with lower scores indicating less severe symptoms

General health assessed by SF12. The SF12 is a generic, multidimensional self-report health questionnaire and is validated when applied to the spine patient. Questions are categorized into scales for general health, physical functioning, social functioning, role limitation-physical, role limitation-emotional, mental health, energy/fatigue, pain, comparative health. These are summarized into the SF12-physical component summary score (PCS) and mental component summary score (MCS). Scores range from 0 to 100. Higher scores imply better functioning.

Functional ability assessed by Oswestry Disability Index. Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is a validated questionnaire in lumbar degenerative spinal stenosis patients that assesses back pain-related disability. A higher score denotes worsening disability.

Functional ability assessed by Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire. Swiss spinal stenosis questionnaire (SSS) is a validated 12-item condition-specific instrument for lumbar degenerative spinal stenosis that is known to be internally consistent and reliable and responsive to clinical change. It is a self-reported measure of pain and physical function. Higher scores represent worse physical function. The score for physical function was calculated as the un-weighted mean of the five items of the scale. The resulting possible scores of 1-4 represent mild to severe limitation in physical function. The Symptom Severity Scale will be used by averaging the scores the seven items. Responses range from 1-7 indicating mild to severe pain.