Objective scoring techniques for back pain are increasingly being used both in the pre-operative selection of patients and as a post-operative outcome measure. Our aim was to determine the strength of correlation between three main scoring techniques used to quantify the severity of the back or leg pain on presentation to a chronic back pain clinic.

The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the Medical Outcomes Study 36 item Short Form Health Survey (SF36), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were competed by 130 patients between July and December 1999. There were 65 males and 65 females with the mean age of 49 years. The patients were divided into three groups: with back pain only, sciatic leg pain only, and those with both. The correlation was analysed using the Pearson correlation test.

There was a good correlation between the Oswestry Disability Index and Visual Analogue Scale for patients with back pain (r=0.641, p< 0.001) and with sciatic leg pain (r=0.469, p< .001). The physical component of the SF36 strongly correlates with the VAS in back pain (r=0.364) and sciatic leg pain (r=1). However there is a poor correlation between the ODI and VAS and all other components of the SF36.