The Örebro Musculoskeletal Screening Questionnaire: Validation of a modified primary care musculoskeletal screening tool in an acute work injured population

Abstract

The original ֲebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire (original-֍PQ) was developed to identify patients at risk of developing persistent back pain problems and is also advocated for musculoskeletal work injured populations. It is critiqued for its informal non-clinimetric development process and narrow focus. A modified version, the ֲebro Musculoskeletal Screening Questionnaire (֍SQ), evolved and progressed the original-֍PQ to broaden application and improve practicality. This study evaluated and validated the ֍SQ clinimetric characteristics and predictive ability through a single-stage prospective observational cohort of 143 acute musculoskeletal injured workers from ten Australian physiotherapy clinics. Baseline-֍SQ scores were concurrently recorded with functional status and problem severity outcomes, then compared at six months along with absenteeism, costs and recovery time to 80% of pre-injury functional status. The ֍SQ demonstrated face and content validity with high reliability (ICC2.1 젰.978, p < 0.001). The score range was broad (40e174 ֍SQ-points) with normalised distribution. Factor analysis revealed a six-factor model with internal consistency a 젰.82 (construct range a 젰.26e0.83). Practical characteristics included completion and scoring times (7.5 min), missing responses (5.6%) and FlescheKincaid readability (sixth-grade and 70% reading-ease). Predictive ability ֍SQ-points cut-off scores were: 114 for absenteeism, functional impairment, problem severity and high cost; 83 for no-absenteeism; and 95 for low cost. Baseline-֍SQ scores correlated strongly with recovery time to 80% functional status (r 젰.73, p < 0.01). The ֍SQ was validated prospectively in an acute work-injured musculoskeletal population. The ֍SQ cut-off scores retain the predictive capacity intent of the original-֍PQ and provide clinicians and insurers with identification of patients with potentially high and low risks of unfavourable outcomes.