Validity and reliability of the Body Awareness Questionnaire in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain

This study was conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. A total of 180 participants (96 women, 84 men), aged 21-64 years, with non-specific chronic low back pain were enrolled from June to December 2019. Sociodemographic features were collected. The pain intensity using the Visual Analog Scale, the disability status due to low back pain with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the body awareness level using the BAQ, and self-esteem using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were assessed. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients in patients 7 days apart. The mean age of the study subjects was 42.14 ± 13.27 years. The scale was found to be reliable in patients experiencing non-specific chronic low back pain. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was 0.767. The internal consistency ranged from 0.718 to 1.00 in the items. Intraclass correlation coefficients of items ranged from 0.560 to 1.000. Intraclass correlation coefficient of BAQ total score was found to be 0.786 (p = 0.000) in test-retest results. The scores of RSES were compared in order to assess the concurrent validity of BAQ. The concurrent validity analyses showed that the BAQ and RSES were significantly correlated (r = 0.188; p = 0.012). The BAQ is a valid and reliable scale for determining body awareness status in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain.