Health-Related Quality of Life and Somatization in Patients With Long-Term Low Back Pain

Study Design. For this study, a prospective cohort of 109 patients was recruited consecutively at an orthopedic inpatient unit of a university hospital. Three self-report instruments were administered to patients with sciatica believed to be caused by a herniated lumbar disc to examine their quality of life and psychic stress at baseline and at the 1-year follow-up visit. Objectives. To investigate whether patients who have undergone a previous discectomy experience greater psychic stress than patients with no surgery, and to determine whether the groups differed regarding their health-related quality of life at the follow-up visit. Summary of Background Data. Previous studies have describe…