Validation and reliability of the Turkish version of the fear avoidance beliefs questionnaire in patients with low back pain.

AIM

The aim of this study was to translate the questionnaire into Turkish and to investigate the test-retest reliability, construct validity and its sensitivity to change following physical therapy.

METHODS

The questionnaire was translated into Turkish using the forward and backward translation technique. Test-retest reliability was assessed with the correlation coefficients. Scale analysis for internal validity, the Cronbach's alpha score was calculated. Construct validity was tested with principal components analysis and was also tested with divergent validity. Following three weeks of treatment, sensitivity to change and responsiveness of the questionnaire was assessed.

RESULTS

The questionnaire was applied on 55 patients and high correlations were found on the repeated items 48 hours later. In the scale analysis, the Cronbach's alpha score was found as 0.911 for the total questionnaire. Two factors were found compatible with the original questionnaire with principal components analysis. These two factors explain 61.647% of the total variance in the questionnaire performed on 150 patients. In divergent validity, the fear avoidance beliefs were found in low correlation with the clinical variables. Sensitivity to change and responsiveness of the FABQ was found to be low.

CONCLUSIONS

FABQ has sufficient psychometric features for its applicability in the Turkish population with subacute and chronic low back pain.