Referral results from the tertiary care setting
| Screening method | No. of patients identified using this cutoff | No. of patients undergoing surgery | Sensitivity, % | Specificity, % | Positive predictive value, % | Negative predictive value, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questionnaire | ||||||
| More sensitive (i.e., clearly back-dominant pain) | ||||||
| Yes — Poor candidate for surgery | 20 | 0 | 100 | 40 | 27 | 100 |
| No — Good candidate for surgery | 42 | 11 | ||||
| More specific (i.e., leg-dominant pain) | ||||||
| Yes — Good candidate for surgery | 22 | 9 | 82 | 74 | 41 | 95 |
| No — Poor candidate for surgery | 39 | 2 | ||||
| Neurocompressive lesion on CT or MRI scans | ||||||
| Yes — Good candidate for surgery | 48 | 11 | 100 | 26 | 23 | 77 |
| No — Poor candidate for surgery | 13 | 0 | ||||
CT = computed tomography; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging.