title: Perceived functional ability assessed with the spinal function sort: is it valid for European rehabilitation settings in patients with non-specific non-acute low back pain?
abstract: The aim of this study involving 170 patients suffering from non-specific low back pain was to test the validity of the spinal function sort (SFS) in a European rehabilitation setting. The SFS, a picture-based questionnaire, assesses perceived functional ability of work tasks involving the spine. All measurements were taken by a blinded research assistant; work status was assessed with questionnaires. Our study demonstrated a high internal consistency shown by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.98, reasonable evidence for unidimensionality, spearman correlations of >0.6 with work activities, and discriminating power for work status at 3 and 12 months by ROC curve analysis (area under curve = 0.760 (95% CI 0.689-0.822), respectively, 0.801 (95% CI 0.731-0.859). The standardised response mean within the two treatment groups was 0.18 and -0.31. As a result, we conclude that the perceived functional ability for work tasks can be validly assessed with the SFS in a European rehabilitation setting in patients with non-specific low back pain, and is predictive for future work status.
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Rehabilitation Centre Valens, Valens, Switzerland. p.oesch@klinik-valens.ch
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Oesch
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hilfiker
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kool
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bachmann
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hagen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires