[Validation of the Oswestry disability scale for low back pain in patients with chronic back pain. Cienfuegos, 2017-2018].

INTRODUCTION

A large number of patients have chronic back pain, producing disability. Consequently, there is a need to validate instruments for pain measurement. The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Oswestry Disability Scale for Low Back Pain in the population with chronic back pain in Cienfuegos.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The investigation consisted of the development of an instrument to validate the scale through content validity, construct validity and reliability analysis. The validation included linguistic and cultural adaptation of the instrument. The study was conducted at the Dr. Gustavo Aldereguía Lima University Hospital in Cienfuegos, Cuba, from September 2017 to October 2018. Systematic randomised sampling was used. The sample included 162 patients. The statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS statistical package.

RESULTS

The experts considered that the instrument should remain unchanged. Factorial analysis identified the presence of three intercorrelated factors that represented 63% of the total. A global Cronbach α of 0.801 was obtained and the temporal stability of the instrument was demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirm the validity and reliability of the Oswestry Disability Scale for Low Back Pain in the Cienfuegan population with chronic back pain.