The relationship of the Functional Rating Index with disability, pain, and quality of life in patients with low back pain.

BACKGROUND

The study was planned to determine the relationship of the Functional Rating Index (FRI) with disability, pain, and quality of life in patients with low back pain.

MATERIAL/METHODS: A total of 84 patients with low back pain, of whom 58 were women and 26 were men, with average age of 47.8 +/- 12.0 years participated in this study. The Functional Rating Index was used to determine the functional status of the patients. Disability was evaluated using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMQ), pain intensity was evaluated with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to assess quality of life. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used for correlation of the FRI with the RMQ, VAS, and SF-36. The internal consistency for test-retest reproducibility of FRI was assessed with Cronbach's alpha.

RESULTS

There was a strong positive correlation between the FRI and the RMQ (p < 0.05). It was found that an increase in severity of pain was associated with the FRI survey score (p < 0.05). There was a negative statistically significant correlation between the FRI and all parameters of SF-36 (p < 0.05). FRI demonstrated high internal consistency, with alpha = 0.960. The test-retest correlation was r = 0.926 (p = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study reveals that the FRI, as a reliable instrument in assessing functional status, is associated with the RMQ, the VAS, and all items of the SF-36 in patients with LBP. It was concluded that changes in functional status were related to changes in disability, pain, and quality of life.