Assessment of patients with chronic back pain using the "Functional Status Questionnaire"

Forty-eight patients with chronic back pain undergoing a rehabilitation program were assessed with the Functional Status Questionnaire (FSQ) during the first week of rehabilitation and after 6 weeks, 6 months and one year. In their first test, all the patients showed diminished functional capacity in at least one of five summary scales, indicating serious health problems and a need for rehabilitation. The test-retest correlation was k = 0.96, indicating high reliability of the questionnaire. After 6 weeks of rehabilitation the patients estimated significant improvements regarding "Satisfaction with health", "Mental health" and "Number of close friends". Some of these improvements were maintained after 6 months and one year. The "Basic ADL" and "Intermediate ADL" scales, however, showed no changes, indicating either low sensitivity or that no real changes had occurred during the rehabilitation period. The FSQ is recommended for use among patients with chronic back pain, but the tests need to be supplemented with other measurements concerning ADL capacity.