By Laura Dyrda
A new study published in Spine examines spinal trauma patient outcomes and how surgeons are measuring for function and health.
The researchers investigated three question formats and three different response formats in a questionnaire, which was administered to patients twice. Then, based on those results, the researchers administered a modified questionnaire and administered it once to a second group to investigate five different response formats: 
• Zero to 10 numeric rating scale-11
• Zero to 11 numeric rating scale-101
• Visual analogue scale
• Verbal rating scale
• Adjective scale
There were 28 patients enrolled in the first phase and 59 patients in the second phase. Here are five key findings: