Translation and validation of the Persian version of the STarT Back Screening Tool in patients with nonspecific low back pain.
OBJECTIVE
To translate the STarT Back Screening Tool (SBT) into Persian and to investigate the psychometric properties of the new version in a group of patients with Non-Specific Low Back Pain (NSLBP).


BACKGROUND
The STarT is a validated questionnaire used for subgrouping LBP patients at three levels of low-, medium-, and high-risk, based on the risk of chronicity. It has previously been translated and validated in different languages.


METHODS
The translation and validation of the original questionnaire were carried out in accordance with the standard guidelines. To approve the construct validity, 295 patients with NSLBP completed a questionnaire package. The package comprised of the STarT, Roland-Morris Disability questionnaire (RMDQ), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). To evaluate test-retest reliability, 35 randomly selected NSLBP patients completed the STarT questionnaire within min. 24-hour interval.


RESULTS
Factor analysis confirmed two subscales of the STarT. The Cronbach α was .83 and .81 for the STarT and the subscale, respectively. This questionnaire showed excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = .85) (p < 0.01). The correlations between the STarT and RMDQ, CSQ, TSK, and the two subscales of HADS were estimated to be .81, .70, .71, .74, and .71, respectively. The Area under the Curve was also calculated for 6 items and the range was between .734 and .860.


CONCLUSIONS
The Persian version of the STarT is reliable and valid, and consistent with the original questionnaire. Therefore, clinicians to subgroup Persian-speaking NSLBP patients can use it.
Physiotherapy Department, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohsen
M
Abedi
Physiotherapy Department, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: farideh4351@gmail.com.
Farideh Dehghan
FD
Manshadi
Physiotherapy Department, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Minoo
M
Khalkhali
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Seyed Javad
SJ
Mousavi
Proteomics Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza Akbarzadeh
AA
Baghban
Department of Mental Health, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, Tehran, Iran.
Ali
A
Montazeri
Department of Industrial Engineering & Manufacturing, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Mohamad
M
Parnianpour
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating
Nonspecific low back pain; STarT Back Screening Tool; Validation