title: The Reliability and Validity of a Pediatric Back Outcome Measure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Young athletes not uncommonly complain of back pain. Many patient-reported outcome measures are used to evaluate back pain, but none have been designed specifically to assess young, athletic patients. The Micheli Functional Scale (MFS) was developed to measure impairment due to back pain in this population. This study examined the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the MFS used in routine clinical assessments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective Cohort Study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pediatric sports medicine specialty clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients presenting with a chief concern of back pain over 1 year (n = 93) were enrolled in the study. Study subjects were administered the MFS and the revised Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at each visit as part of routine clinical care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reliability of the MFS was assessed by calculating Cronbach alpha (α). Concurrent validity was determined by measuring Spearman coefficient (rs) for the correlations between the MFS and ODI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-three patients (50 female, 43 male), mean age 14.1 ± 2.3 years were enrolled and 242 clinic encounters (71 initial/171 follow-up visits) analyzed. The MFS had acceptable item reliability (α = 0.786) and concurrent validity: the MFS and ODI were strongly and positively correlated [rs = 0.824 (P < 0.001)]. The MFS was comparatively more reliable and valid when used in follow-up versus initial visits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MFS is a reliable and valid instrument in assessing young athletes with back pain, although the instrument has different performance characteristics on initial versus follow-up assessments. Further work is needed to refine the MFS to enhance the instrument's reliability, validity, and responsiveness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides further insight into an outcome measure of clinical use in evaluating young athletes with back pain.
authors: *Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio; and†Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors: James P
authors: JP
authors: MacDonald
authors: Pierre A
authors: PA
authors: dʼHemecourt
authors: Lyle J
authors: LJ
authors: Micheli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index