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pp.94-102
The purpose of this study was to review existing assessment tools for patients with low back pain and improve them through combination. A total of 314 patients with low back pain participated. Their condition was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ), the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPD), and the Back Pain Functional Scale (BPFS). Rasch analysis was applied to identify inappropriate items, item difficulties, and the separation index. In this study, the 'sex life' item of the ODQ (10 items) and the 'sleeping' item of the BPFS (12 items) showed misfit statistics, whereas all items of the QBPD (20 items) were appropriate. After combining the ODQ, QBPD and BPFS, Rasch analysis was applied. The 'pain intensity', and the 'sex life' item of the ODQ and the 'throw a ball' item of QBPD showed misfit statistics. These 3 items were retained for further analysis. The remaining 42 combined ODQ-QBPD-BPFS items were arranged according to difficulty. For all subjects, the most difficult item was 'pain intensity', whereas the easiest was 'take food out of the refrigerator'. As the separation index of 42 combined ODQ-QBPD-BPFS was higher than that of the three questionnaires separately, difficulty of items varied with some need for rearrangement. The results of this study confirmed the possibility and need for a new back pain disability assessment tool, and produced one. Further study is needed to refine the questionnaire in consideration of psychosocial and occupational factors.
