title: Psychometric properties of the Tampa Scale for kinesiophobia and the fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire in acute low back pain.
abstract: The transition from acute to chronic low back pain (LBP) is influenced by many interacting factors. Pain-related fear, as measured by the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) and the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), is one of these factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate, in a population with acute LBP, the reliability of TSK and FABQ through evaluation of the internal consistency, the test-retest reliability, and the concurrent validity between TSK and FABQ. One hundred and Seventy-Six patients suffering LBP for no longer than 4 weeks completed a Visual Analogue Scale for pain (VAS), the TSK, the FABQ, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Each patient completed the VAS, TSK, and FABQ twice within 24 h. Internal consistency of TSK and FABQ scores range from alpha=0.70 to 0.83. Test-retest reliability ranges from r(s)=0.64 to 0.80 (P<0.01). Concurrent validity is moderate, ranging from r(s) =0.33 to 0.59 (P<0.01). It may be concluded that in a population with acute LBP, both the TSK and the FABQ are reliable measures of pain-related fear. In the clinical setting they may provide the practitioner a means of identifying pain-related fear in a patient with acute LBP.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Quality of Care Research, University Medical Centre St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. swinky@xs4all.nl
authors.forename: E J C M
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Swinkels-Meewisse
authors.forename: R A H M
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Swinkels
authors.forename: A L M
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Verbeek
authors.forename: J W S
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vlaeyen
authors.forename: R A B
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Oostendorp
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*