Abstract
Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK)1.
Subjects: Eighty-four chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients presenting for their first assessment at an outpatient physiotherapy department were used (57% female; M age = 45 yrs; SD ± 10 yrs).
Design: Eighty-four patients completed the TSK. Internal consistency, item-total correlations, distribution of scores on each item, three-day test-retest reliability and responsiveness were then calculated. To determine responsiveness, patients were categorised into two groups, namely meaningful change in pain-related fear (Group 1) and non-meaningful change in pain-related fear (Group 2). Patients were categorised based on their response to a thirteen-point global rating scale (GRS). Standardised Response Means (SRMs)2 were computed for each group.
Results: Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach α = 0.82). With the exception of items 8 and 16 all item-total correlations exceeded the level of 0.20. Scores were normally distributed for most items, however, items 4, 12 and 14 were positively skewed (Z-scores > 1.96). Test-retest coefficients were high (ICC = 0.91). SRMs were −0.96 and −0.44 for Groups 1 and 2, respectively, thus indicating good discriminatory power. An adapted version of the TSK (MTSK-12), constructed from the twelve most psychometrically robust items, had comparable reliability and validity (Cronbach α = 0.82; ICC = 0.91; SRM [Group 1] = 0.89; SRM [Group 2] = 0.39).
Conclusion: Overall the TSK has excellent psychometric properties. The MTSK-12 is a valid and reliable measure of pain-related fear and warrants further investigation.
Abstracts prepared by Mr. A. J. Stirling, FRCS, and Miss A. Weaver. Correspondence should be addressed to Miss A. Weaver at the Research and Teaching Centre, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2AP, UK
BritSpine 2002, the second combined meeting of the British Association of Spinal Surgeons, the British Cervical Spine Society, The British Scoliosis Society and the Society for Back Pain Research, took place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham UK between 27th February and 1st March 2002. The following presentations and posters were given and displayed.
References
1 Kori, S. H. , Miller, R. P. and Todd, D. D. (1990). Kiniso-phobia: a new view of chronic pain behavior. Pain Management, Jan/February, 35–43. Google Scholar
2 Liang, M. H. , Fossel, A. H. and Larson, M. G. (1990). Comparisons of five health status instruments for orthopedic evaluation. Med Care, 7, 632–642. Google Scholar
