The test-retest reliability of a new occupational risk factor questionnaire for outcome studies of low back pain

This study reports the test-retest reliability of a 25-item occupational risk factor questionnaire that can be self-administered in clinical settings and used in outcome studies of low back pain or return to work programs. Subjects were 24 patients (workers on sick leave due to acute low back pain), 29 co-workers on active duty in the same jobs in a utility company, and 53 supervisors. Eighty-six subjects were re-tested within a mean interval of 7-10 days; one group of 20 supervisors was re-tested within 81 days. The questionnaire was self-administered during individual interviews. Reliability was estimated by the re statistic as the agreement on the scores within the raters in each group. The agreement ranged from 'slight' (0.15) to 'almost perfect' (0.93) when the re-test interval was less than 43 days. Patients and non-patients were consistent in their assessment of the job demands. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.