Abstract
Background: Sickness absence, care seeking and symptoms lasting more than 24 hours have all been used to quantify an episode of low back pain (LBP). These measures do not take into account the transient and fluctuating symptoms that sedentary workers may experience over the course of the day, or from day to day. Some workers may not even describe their symptoms as ‘painful’, perhaps preferring alternative pain adjectives such as ‘discomfort’ or ‘aching’. The importance of these symptoms when sitting at work in relation to the development of persistent symptoms and work loss is unknown.
Methods: A new low back discomfort scale was developed based on a 100mm VAS scale ranging from 0 (no discomfort), through to 100 (severe discomfort). Subjects (n=41) were asked to mark on the scale the intensity of any discomfort, i.e. ache, strain, unpleasant sensation or pain experienced when sitting at work in the past week. Subjects were re-tested after a two week time-lapse, and paired t-tests were used to determine test-retest stability.
Results: The retest response rate was 46%, and there were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) between test (28mm), and retest (21mm) mean scores. Reports from subjects suggest that the scale has face validity.
Conclusions: The low back discomfort scale was shown to be valid and reliable, providing a broad measure of reported symptom intensity when sitting at work. This scale will now be used in sedentary work environments alongside biomechanical and psychosocial measures to investigate risk factors for persistent LBP and sickness absence.
Correspondence should be addressed to: Mr John O’ Dowd, SBPR, c/o BOA, The Royal College of Surgeons, 35–43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE.
