Preoperative and Postoperative PROMIS and FFI Scores Based on Region of Foot Pathology and Surgery

CATEGORY: Other; Ankle; Ankle Arthritis; Bunion; Hindfoot; Lesser Toes; Midfoot/Forefoot INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Instrumentation System (PROMIS) has become increasingly utilized in orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery to assess outcomes and better understand patient function, pain, and disability. Similarly, the Foot Function Index (FFI) is used to assess pain, disability, and activity limitation. PROMIS scores have been shown to predict, preoperatively, which patients will benefit most from foot and ankle surgery from a general perspective. It is currently unknown, with regard to chronic foot pathology, which region of the foot has the greatest effect on PROMIS and FFI scores and which region is affected the most by surgical intervention. METHODS: PROMIS physical function, pain index, and depression scores along with FFI scoring subsets of pain, disability, and activity limitation were retrospectively reviewed for patients at a tertiary referral center with chronic pathology in either the hindfoot, midfoot, or forefoot that underwent surgery. Scores were obtained preoperatively and at 6 weeks postoperatively, and a preoperative to postoperative difference was calculated. Once the mean of each subcategory was obtained, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted in order to compare the means and identify statistically significant differences. Significance was set at p < 0.05 and p < 0.10. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the mean preoperative PROMIS or FFI scores in the forefoot, midfoot, or hindfoot regions. There was also no statistically significant difference between means of PROMIS or FFI categories at 6 weeks postoperatively. However, the mean pre- to postoperative differences between PROMIS physical function scores of the forefoot, midfoot, and hindfoot were statistically significantly different at 9.12, 8.16, and 2.88, respectively (p=0.037). There was no statistically significant difference between the remaining scoring categories. CONCLUSION: Physical function, pain, depression, disability, and activity limitation are not affected disparately by the location of chronic pathology within the foot. Surgical intervention for problems in the forefoot, midfoot, and hindfoot does not provide differences in outcomes with regard to pain, disability, depression, or activity limitation based on region. Patients who have undergone surgical intervention for forefoot or midfoot pathology may experience greater improvements in physical function postoperatively when compared to patients who have undergone hindfoot surgery.