Phone Calls With Counselors After Spinal Surgery Can Improve Recovery, Reduce Pain

Patients who had a short series of phone conversations with health professionals after spinal surgery experienced better recoveries and less pain than other patients, an AHRQ-funded study found. Counselors talked with patients about the importance of participating in physical therapy and continuing their back exercises at home. Patients who received the calls reported having less pain and disability than those who were not called. Researchers concluded that such phone calls — a relatively inexpensive and simple intervention — can help hundreds of thousands of Americans who undergo spinal surgeries every year. The study involved 122 patients ages 46 to 72 who underwent surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to correct spinal stenosis, a condition that causes painful compression of the spinal cord. The study, “Health Behavior Change Counseling in Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis,” appeared online March 28 in the journalArchives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in two parts. The article and abstract for Part I are titled “Improvement in Rehabilitation Engagement and Functional Outcomes.” The article and abstract for Part II are titled “Patient Activation Mediates the Effects of Health Behavior Change Counseling on Rehabilitation Engagement.”