Functional assessment of patients with sacroiliac joint disorder using the Denver SI-Joint Questionnaire: A study of a conservative therapy group

Abstract

Introduction: The Denver SI-Joint Questionnaire (DSIJQ) is a questionnaire that asks about pain in the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) region and evaluates 10 disabilities that can result from sacroiliac joint disorders (SIJD), such as sitting time and instability of the SIJ region. In a previous study estimated the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of the DSIJQ using the criteria of the Roland-Morris-Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) for patients with SIJD who underwent SIJ arthrodesis, and we found that the cutoff value was a total decrease of 12 points (> 24% improvement). This study aimed to examine the MCID of the DSIJQ in the SIJD conservative treatment group.

Methods: There were 17 patients (nine men and eight women; mean age 55.1±15.9 years) with SIJD diagnosed by SIJ injections between April and December 2020 and treated conservatively with hospitalization who were included in this study. The reliability and internal consistency of the DSIJQ, the mean of the total score of the DSIJQ and RDQ, respectively, at admission and discharge, the correlation between the two questionnaires, and the MCID of the DSIJQ were evaluated. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The DSIJQ had good reliability [Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) = 0.92] and internal consistency (α = 0.97). The mean DSIJQ score was 27.1 on admission and 16.1 at discharge (Δ -11.0), and RDQ was 13.1 on admission and 9.3 at the point of discharge (Δ -3.8) (p< 0.05). ΔDSIJQ and ΔRDQ were positively correlated (r = 0.54, p = 0.025). The MCID of the DSIJQ was reduced by 11 points (more than a 22% improvement).

Conclusions: In the surgical and conservative treatment of SIJD, the treatment outcome target may be to achieve an approximate improvement of 22-24% or more on the DSIJQ.