Validation of a French version of Roland-Morris questionnaire in chronic low back pain patients.

OBJECTIVE

To validate a French version of the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fifty-eight patients due to participate in a functional rehabilitation programme for chronic low back pain were included prospectively. The RMDQ, the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and the "daily activities" subscale of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ) were administered. The RMDQ was assessed for internal consistency, reliability, criterion validity and sensitivity to change.

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha for the RMDQ was 0.84. The intraclass correlation coefficient [95% confidence interval] was 0.89 [0.83-0.93]. The RMDQ score was correlated with the QBPDS score (r=0.713) and the DPQ's "daily activities" subscore (r=0.514). The results of assessments before and after functional rehabilitation showed that the French version of the RMDQ had very high sensitivity to change (effect size: 1.49) and was more sensitive than the QBPDS and the DPQ's "daily activities" subscore.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study validated the French version of the RMDQ in patients suffering from chronic low back pain. Furthermore, we highlighted the questionnaire's very high sensitivity to change.