Subgroups of back pain: comparison of Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (ÖMPSQ) and STarT Back Screening Tool

Abstract

Non-specific low back pain is a common condition in the clinical practice of primary care health professionals. There is a growing interest in the literature regarding the treatment of low back pain guided by classification into subgroups. The instruments Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire and STarT Back Screening Tool classify patients with low back pain in low, medium, and high risk of worsening prognosis. Such tools may enable the screening of patients and indicate the best treatment based on scientific evidence for each subgroup. Several studies have demonstrated the usefulness of both instruments in scientific research and in clinical routine. However, it is unclear whether there is a correlation between the instruments in their Brazilian-Portuguese version. The objective of this study is to compare the short versions in Brazilian-Portuguese of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire and STarT Back Screening Tool to verify the correlation between these two screening tools in patients with non-specific low back pain. The comparative analysis will be performed by collecting data from 100 patients with acute or sub-acute non-specific low back pain, without the presence of red flags. The values obtained will be analyzed using Pearson's correlation and also through the curves of the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC). The development of this research to clarify the comparative analysis of the above-mentioned instruments can contribute to a better understanding of the questionnaires by clinicians and researchers, allowing them to choose to use one or the other, based on a study of good quality.(AU)