Book Description
Degenerative spine disease is a consequence of aging. Globally, 266 million persons are diagnosed withthis condition annually. As the population ages, the number of spinal surgeries will increase. Unknown is the experience of older people living with this debilitating condition who undergo spine surgery and develop a postoperative medical complication. To answer this gap in the knowledge, my dissertation is comprised of two studies presented in three manuscripts. The first study is a scoping review investigating in-hospital medical complications incurred by older people (9́Æ 65yrs) after spine surgery. The second is a qualitative study using grounded theory methodology. Traditional grounded theory guided this study of people 9́Æ 65yrs with degenerative spine disease who were hospitalized after undergoing spine surgery. Fourteen individuals were recruited for two in-depth interviews at two time-points: T1 during the hospitalization and T2, one to three months postdischarge. The purpose of this study was to investigate older peoples' understanding of living with degenerative spine disease. This was accomplished by the following specific aims: (1) To understand how older people assign meaning to having degenerative spine disease and how they define a complication, (2) What actions older people take based on their assigned meanings of degenerative spine disease, (3) Construct a conceptual model that details the social processes older people engage in living with degenerative spine disease and undergoing spine surgery . Our findings highlight a gap in knowledge and a limitation in how spine surgery researchers and healthcare providers conceptualize what are complications. Further, the findings can guide evidencebased development of person-centered interventions and inform patient education regarding preparation for surgery, recovery, and setting expectations.