Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire. Part 3. Validity study and establishment of the measurement scale : Subcommittee on Low Back Pain and Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation of the Clinical Outcome Committee of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association, Japan.
BACKGROUND
The Japanese Orthopaedic Association decided to revise the JOA score for low back pain and to develop a new outcome measure. In February 2002, the first survey was performed with a preliminary questionnaire consisting of 60 evaluation items. Based on findings of that survey, 25 items were selected for a draft of the JOA Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ). The second survey was performed to confirm the reliability of the draft questionnaire. This article further evaluates the validity of this questionnaire and establishes a measurement scale.


METHODS
The subjects of this study consisted of 355 patients with low back disorders of any type (201 men, 154 women; mean age 50.7 years). Each patient was asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire. Superficial validity was checked in terms of the completion rate for filling out the entire questionnaire. Factor analysis was then performed to evaluate the validity of the questionnaire and establish a measurement scale.


RESULTS
As a result of the factor analysis, 25 items were categorized into five factors. The factors were named based on the commonality of the items: social function, mental health, lumbar function, walking ability, and low back pain. To establish a measurement scale for each factor, we determined the coefficient for each item so the difference between the maximum factor scores and minimum factor scores was approximately 100. We adjusted the formula so the maximum for each factor score was 100 and the minimum was 0.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed the validity of the JOA Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire and established a measurement scale.
Laboratory of Statistics, Osaka City University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Mitsuru
M
Fukui
Kazuhiro
K
Chiba
Mamoru
M
Kawakami
Shin-ichi
S
Kikuchi
Shin-ichi
S
Konno
Masabumi
M
Miyamoto
Atsushi
A
Seichi
Tadashi
T
Shimamura
Osamu
O
Shirado
Toshihiko
T
Taguchi
Kazuhisa
K
Takahashi
Katsushi
K
Takeshita
Toshikazu
T
Tani
Yoshiaki
Y
Toyama
Eiji
E
Wada
Kazuo
K
Yonenobu
Takashi
T
Tanaka
Yoshio
Y
Hirota
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires