LAUSR

PurposeWe aimed to develop and internally validate a simple scoring system: the adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgical decision-making (ASD-SDM) score, which is specific to the decision-making process for ASD patients aged below 40 years.MethodsA multicentre prospective ASD database was retrospectively reviewed. The scoring system was developed using data from a derivation cohort and was internally validated in a validation cohort. The accuracy of the ASD-SDM score was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).ResultsA total of 316 patients were randomly divided into derivation (253 patients, 80%) and validation (63 patients, 20%) cohorts. A 10-point scoring system was created from four variables: self-image score in the Scoliosis Research Society-22 score, coronal Cobb angle, pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis mismatch, and relative spinopelvic alignment, and the surgical indication was graded into low (score 0–4), moderate (score 5–7), and high (score 8–10) surgical indication groups. In the validation cohort, the AUC for selecting surgical management according to the ASD-SDM score was 0.789 (SE 0.057, P < 0.001, 95% CI 0.655–0.880). The percentage of patients treated surgically were 21.1%, 55.0%, and 80.0% in the low, moderate, and high surgical indication groups, respectively.ConclusionsThe ASD-SDM score, to the best of our knowledge, is the first algorithm to guide the decision-making process for the ASD population and could be one of the indices for aiding the selection of treatment for ASD.Graphical abstractThese slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.