Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the STarT musculoskeletal tool

The Subgrouping for Targeted Treatment (STarT) musculoskeletal (MSK) tool stratifies patients with MSK disorders (MSDs) into prognostic categories based on poor outcomes.

This study aimed at investigating the validity and reliability of the Persian STarT MSK tool in people suffering from painful MSDs in Iran.

A total of 593 subjects with painful MSDs including neck, shoulder, low back, knee, and multisite pain received and completed the STarT MSK tool, visual analog scale (VAS), EuroQol five-dimensions three-levels questionnaire (EQ-5D-3 L), short form-36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36), and Örebro musculoskeletal pain screening questionnaire (ÖMPSQ) in the first visit. To examine test-retest reliability, 234 patients completed the STarT MSK tool 2 days after the initial visit.

In this study, 139 (23.5%), 266 (44.9%), and 188 (31.7%) participants were classified as low-, medium-, and high-risk groupings for poor outcomes, respectively. Spearman's correlation coefficient showed a strong relationship among Persian STarT MSK tool and EQ-5D-3 L (-0.78), SF-36 (-0.76), and OMPSQ (0.70). The results of known-group validity indicated that this tool could distinguish among the participants in different risk subgroups based on the scores of the ÖMPSQ, VAS, SF36, and EQ-5D-5 L (p < .001). No ceiling and floor effects were observed. Cronbach's alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC_2,1) were acceptable (0.71) and excellent (0.98), respectively.

The Persian version of STarT MSK tool has shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to stratify people with painful MSDs into low-, medium-, and high-risk subgroups based on persistent pain disability.