The Oswestry Spinal Risk Index (OSRI): an external validation study

• Published in: European spine journal Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 252 - 256
• Main Authors: Fleming, Christina, Baker, Joseph F., O’Neill, Shane C., Rowan, Fiachra E., Byrne, Damien P., Synnott, Keith
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - mortality; Adenocarcinoma - secondary; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Databases, Factual; Decision Support Techniques; Female; Humans; Karnofsky Performance Status; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Neurosurgery; Original Article; Prognosis; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Risk Assessment; Spinal Neoplasms - mortality; Spinal Neoplasms - secondary; Surgical Orthopedics; Survival Rate; Oswestry Spinal Risk Index; Scoring system; Metastasis
• ISSN: 0940-6719; 1432-0932
• DOI: 10.1007/s00586-014-3730-z

Purpose The Oswestry Spinal Risk Index (OSRI) was recently reported as an adjunct in the management of metastatic spinal disease. Based on the tumour type and a general condition score, survivorship is predicted. We aimed to externally validate this new score. Methods We assessed the survivorship of 121 patients identified from a prospectively collated database in the National Spinal Injuries Unit in the Republic of Ireland. Actual survivorship was calculated according to the tumour subtype and general conditioning, according to the Karnofsky Performance Score (OSRI = Primary Tumour Pathology + (2−General Conditioning Score)). Our results were then compared to those previously published. Results 45.5 % were female ( n  = 55). The mean age at presentation was 61.5 years (range 23–85). Breast and prostate cancers were the most frequent diseases encountered. The actual survival in our cohort closely mirrored the predicted survival, according to the equation used to calculate the OSRI with an overall strong correlation found ( r  = 0.798, p  = 0.001). Conclusion We found that the OSRI is a simple to use scoring system. We found a strong correlation in our results with the predicted survivorship based on the OSRI. The OSRI can be used as a useful adjunct in the management of patient with metastatic disease of the spine.