PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pohl, Pedro
AU  - Bettoni Volpato, Helena Bruna
AU  - Fernandes, Lucas Seabra
AU  - Sauma, Marcel Lobato
AU  - Yurube, Takashi
AU  - Bang, Gilbert
AU  - Medéa de Mendonça, Rodrigo Góes
AU  - Reis Rodrigues, Luciano Miller
AU  - Lenza, Mario
TI  - Development and Validation of the 17-Point Brazilian Portuguese Translated Version of the Modified Japanese Orthopedic Association Score (mJOA-BR17)
AID  - 10.14444/8554
DP  - 2023 Dec 20
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8554
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2023/12/20/8554.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2023/12/20/8554.full
AB  - Background Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is the most common degenerative dysfunction of the spinal cord in the cervical spine in patients older than 55 years. The Japanese Orthopedic Association developed a scoring system to quantify clinical impairment of CSM patients, allocate them according to the degree of impairment, and suggest best timing for surgery. The original version evaluates the upper limb motor function through the ability of feeding with chopsticks, which are not intrinsic in western populations. To compare severity and treatment improvement of any diseases, it is preferable to have modified and translated versions of questionnaires and scores closest to the original ones. The authors present a prospective cohort study to validate the 17-point Brazilian Portuguese translated version of the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA-BR17) survey.Methods Patients with CSM (n = 36) were allocated to the disease group, while age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (n = 34) were recruited for the control group. Comparison of statistical analysis of mJOA-BR17 domains for each group was established. After the translation and adaptation of mJOA-BR17, the validation was made through application to the 2 groups.Results There were statistical differences between groups in total mJOA-BR17 score (CSM, 14.14 ± 2.92; control, 16.68 ± 0.59: P < 0.001), lower limbs motor function (CSM, 3.25 ± 1.02; control, 3.91 ± 0.29: P < 0.001), upper limbs sensory function (CSM, 1.17 ± 0.81; control, 1.86 ± 0.36: P < 0.001), lower limbs sensory function (CSM, 1.62 ± 0.64; control, 2.0 ± 0.0: P < 0.001), and bladder function (CSM, 2.69 ± 0.52; control, 2.97 ± 0.17: P = 0.005). The receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.81, indicating usefulness of the mJOA-BR17 score to identify patients with CSM from healthy controls.Conclusions The mJOA-BR17 demonstrated similarity, applicability, and good understanding in comparison to the English-modified version of 17-point JOA score for CSM, becoming a valuable tool to quantify and differentiate CSM patients from healthy individuals.Level of Evidence 4