Low back pain--correspondence between questionnaire, interview and clinical examination

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Clinical Epidemiology

Background:

• Low back disorder (LBD) is a common issue in construction workers.
• Accurate assessment of LBD relies on correlating subjective reports with objective clinical findings.
• The Nordic questionnaire is a common tool for assessing musculoskeletal symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the agreement between questionnaire responses, personal interview data, and clinical findings for low back disorder.
• To evaluate the reliability of self-reported symptoms and functional impairment in construction workers.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 1,773 construction workers who completed a questionnaire on musculoskeletal issues.
• A subset of 206 workers underwent a personal interview and a blind clinical examination.
• Clinical examination focused on identifying lumbar painful structures.

Main Results:

• Workers reporting no lifetime low back trouble (LBT) in the questionnaire also reported none in interviews, with negative clinical findings.
• 80% of workers reporting current LBT in interviews were clinically positive.
• Reported functional impairment correlated well with clinical findings.
• Correlation was less apparent for pain frequency and inability to perform normal work as per the Nordic questionnaire.

Conclusions:

• Self-reported functional impairment is a reliable indicator of clinical low back disorder in construction workers.
• Questionnaire data on pain frequency and work inability show limited correlation with clinical findings.
• Further refinement of questionnaires may be needed to improve the assessment of low back disorder.