Preliminary validation of the military low back pain questionnaire.
Soldiers must perform a variety of physical tasks that the civilian population does not. The Modified Oswestry Disability Index (M-ODI) is the most widely used measure of function in patients with low back pain but does not include military tasks. The Military Low Back Pain Questionnaire (MBQ) was developed by military Physical Therapists to include tasks such as wearing body armor. The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary evidence for the reliability, responsiveness, and validity of the MBQ in nondeployed Soldiers. The MBQ had good reliability compared to the M-ODI. The inter-rater correlation coefficient for the M-ODI was 0.79 and 0.75 for the MBQ. Cronbach's alpha was 0.75 and 0.85 for the M-ODI and MBQ, respectively. The minimal detectable change for the M-ODI was 21.03 and 22.97 for the MBQ. Responsiveness was assessed using a global rating of change; area under the curve for the M-ODI was 0.82 and 0.90 for the MBQ. The correlation between the M-ODI and the MBQ was r = 0.80 indicating good concurrent validity. The MBQ was as reliable as the M-ODI in an Army population. There were trends in the psychometrics suggesting the MBQ may be more sensitive to change than the M-ODI in this population.
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 15 Kansas Street, Natick, MA 01760.
Tanja C
TC
Roy
Fort Drum Medical Department Activity, Fort Drum, NY 13602.
Karen L
KL
Fish
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY 42223.
Heather P
HP
Lopez
Physical Therapy Department, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
Sara R
SR
Piva
D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult