Study design The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) has become one of the principal condition-specific outcome measures used in the management of spinal disorders. This review is based on publications using the ODI identified from the authors' personal databases, the Science Citation Index, and hand searches of Spine and current textbooks of spinal disorders. Objectives To review the versions of this instrument, document methods by which it has been validated, collate data from scores found in normal and back pain populations, provide curves for power calculations in studies using the ODI, and maintain the ODI as a gold standard outcome measure. Summary of background data It has now been 20 years since its original publication. More than 200 citations exist in the Science Citation Index. The authors have a large correspondence file relating to the ODI, that is cited in most of the large textbooks related to spinal disorders. Methods All the published versions of the questionnaire were identified. A systematic review of this literature was made. The various reports of validation were collated and related to a version. Results Four versions of the ODI are available in English and nine in other languages. Some published versions contain misprints, and many omit the scoring system. At least 114 studies contain usable data. These data provide both validation and standards for other users and indicate the power of the instrument for detecting change in sample populations. Conclusions The ODI remains a valid and vigorous measure and has been a worthwhile outcome measure. The process of using the ODI is reviewed and should be the subject of further research. The receiver operating characteristics should be explored in a population with higher self-report disabilities. The behavior of the instrument is incompletely understood, particularly in sensitivity to real change.

https://womenshealthapta.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/oswestry-fairbanks.pdf

The Oswestry Disability Index.

Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires

This guideline from the ACP provides clinical recommendations about noninvasive pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of low back pain.

Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673602076031.pdf

Spinal-cord injury

This evidence review assesses the benefits and harms of diverse nonpharmacologic treatments for acute or chronic low back pain with or without leg pain. Therapies with good evidence of moderate eff...

https://qmo.amedd.army.mil/lbp/ACPAPDNonPharmLBP2007.pdf

Nonpharmacologic Therapies for Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Review of the Evidence for an American Pain Society/American College of Physicians Clinical Practice Guideline

Functional capacity evaluation is an important and widely available service provided by rehabilitation professionals, including many physical therapists. In the absence of agreed-upon professional standards, guidelines for practice have been developed. These guidelines provide a basis for the development of standards of practice which the authors believe should be undertaken on an interdisciplinary basis. These guidelines provide a baseline level of care that should be maintained by physical therapists and others who provide functional capacity evaluation services.

/pdf/guidelines-for-functional-capacity-evaluation-of-people-with-18jlbffjr3.pdf

Guidelines for functional capacity evaluation of people with medical conditions.

Background and Purpose. The relationship between functional capacity evaluation (FCE) data and work disability has not been studied. The validity of FCE testing results in terms of subsequent return to work (RTW) was the focus of this exploratory study. Subjects and Methods. Six hundred fifty adults of working age were evaluated as part of a standardized FCE. Clients were contacted by telephone 6 months after the FCE to determine their work status. Predictor variables were gender, age, time off work, maximum safe loads during 3 dynamic lifts, and isometric grip force. Other variables measured were whether or not the client returned to work (RTW-Y/N) and level of return to work (RTW level). Results. A multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the more time a worker was away from work, the less likely was RTW. Male subjects were less likely to return to work than female subjects. The more weight lifted from floor to waist, the more likely was RTW. The logistic regression equation correctly classified 80.3% of the subjects who returned to work and 56.6% of the subjects who did not return to work. Each of the 3 lift tests was related to RTW level, whereas the grip force tests were not related to either RTW-Y/N or RTW level. Discussion and Conclusion. Time off work and gender were the strongest predictors of RTW, but certain FCE subtests of lifting were related to RTW and RTW level for people with work-related chronic symptoms. Grip force was not related to RTW.

/pdf/relationships-among-lifting-ability-grip-force-and-return-to-t6eyirmc85.pdf

Relationships among lifting ability, grip force, and return to work.

Treating acute low back pain with continuous low-level heat wrap therapy and/or exercise: a randomized controlled trial.

Continuous Low-Level Heat Wrap Therapy for the Prevention and Early Phase Treatment of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness of the Low Back: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The QuickDASH, an abbreviated form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire, uses a graded-adjectives ordinal measurement response scale. In order to improve the sensitivity of the measure and to make it compatible with widely used measures of pain and disability, a visual analog scale version was developed. The present study investigated the reliability of the new version over time when used for the evaluation of patients undergoing treatment.

Methods: A test-retest model with a two-day interval was used to evaluate a sample of thirty-eight consecutive patients in an interdisciplinary tertiary rehabilitation setting who were identified as having an upper extremity disorder.

Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient indicating test-retest reliability was 0.90 for the eleven-item QuickDASH visual analog scale questionnaire (without the work component) and 0.94 for the fifteen-item questionnaire (with the work component), neither of which was significantly different from the results reported for the original questionnaire.

Conclusions: The QuickDASH visual analog scale questionnaire has acceptable reliability over time, and it can be used as an alternative to the original QuickDASH.

/pdf/reliability-of-a-visual-analog-version-of-the-quickdash-2xy4jbj0p6.pdf

Leonard N. Matheson

Papers

Guidelines for functional capacity evaluation of people with medical conditions.

Relationships among lifting ability, grip force, and return to work.

Treating acute low back pain with continuous low-level heat wrap therapy and/or exercise: a randomized controlled trial.

Continuous Low-Level Heat Wrap Therapy for the Prevention and Early Phase Treatment of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness of the Low Back: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Reliability of a visual analog version of the QuickDASH.