Study Objectives

To track specific outcome measures of different surgical and non-surgical techniques used to treat spinal conditions in the creation of a national health data registry.

The Canadian Spine Society (CSS) is a collaborative organization of spine surgeons and health care professionals from across Canada with a primary interest in advancing excellence in spine patient care, research and education. (www.spinecanada.ca) The Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network (CSORN) was established to advance these interests.

CSORN is a multicentre Canadian study prospectively enrols participants with spinal pathology requiring surgical or non-surgical treatment. The objective of the CSORN study is to track specific outcome measures of different surgical and non-surgical techniques used to treat spinal conditions in the creation of a national health data registry. Registry data collection is comprised primarily of participant and physician reported outcomes. In the development of the national CSORN study dataset, the CSORN Steering Committee identified a set of objectives. These objectives are used to identify the specific data elements required to support the CSORN study.

Objectives
  1. Clinical support, Quality Data Management:
    • Promote, encourage and develop an efficient and effective national data
    • Retrieval and management reporting service of Canadian spine data
    • To track practice patterns and small area variation
    • Resource utilization
  1. Research support:
    • Identify and assess impact of different interventions on participant outcomes for various types of spine pathology. These outcomes include:
      • Generic and Disease Specific Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL)
      • Economic Analysis
      • Patient Satisfaction
  1. Partnerships and quality improvement:
    • Identify opportunities to facilitate multicentre collaborations and the development of best treatment practices