Psychometric properties of the Tampa Scale for kinesiophobia and the fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire in acute low back pain

The transition from acute to chronic low back pain (LBP) is influenced by many interacting factors. Pain-related fear, as measured by the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) and the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), is one of these factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate, in a population with acute LBP, the reliability of TSK and FABQ through evaluation of the internal consistency, the test-retest reliability, and the concurrent validity between TSK and FABQ. One hundred and Seventy-Six patients suffering LBP for no longer than 4 weeks completed a Visual Analogue Scale for pain (VAS), the TSK, the FABQ, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Each patient completed the VAS, TSK, and FABQ twice within 24 h. Internal consistency of TSK and FABQ scores range from alpha = 0.70 to 0.83. Test-retest reliability ranges from r(s) = 0.64 to 0.80 (P < 0.01). Concurrent validity is moderate, ranging from r(s) = 0.33 to 0.59 (P < 0.01). It may be concluded that in a population with acute LBP, both the TSK and the FABQ are reliable measures of pain-related fear. In the clinical setting they may provide the practitioner a means of identifying pain-related fear in a patient with acute LBP. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.