JOA back pain evaluation questionnaire: initial report.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Health Outcomes Research

Background:

• Objective evaluation of lumbar spine disorders lacks standardized patient-oriented measures.
• Existing assessments need to capture multidimensional symptoms and self-reported functional status.
• Development of a disease-specific Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire is crucial for patient assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific items for a disease-specific QOL questionnaire for patients with lumbar spine disorders.
• To create a patient-centered outcome measure for lumbar spine conditions.
• To enhance the assessment of symptoms and functional status in lumbar spine disorder patients.

Main Methods:

• A 60-item draft QOL questionnaire, combining items from the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) and Short Form 36 (SF-36), was administered to patients (n=328) and controls (n=213).
• Discriminant analysis and correlation coefficients were used to select and exclude items.
• Explanatory variables were analyzed to determine items for exclusion.

Main Results:

• Two items (RDQ-15, RDQ-19) were initially excluded based on response distribution.
• 33 items were excluded and 27 candidate items were adopted based on correlation coefficients.
• 25 of the 27 candidate items were accepted following discriminant analysis.

Conclusions:

• A 25-item questionnaire was identified as suitable for evaluating the QOL of patients with diverse lumbar spine disorders.
• The developed questionnaire provides a specific and patient-oriented measure for lumbar spine conditions.
• This study contributes to establishing a more objective assessment tool for lumbar spine disorder patients.