Name
Aberdeen back pain scale.
Synonyms
Aberdeen low back pain scale, Aberdeen low back pain disability scale.
Source Article
Ruta DA, Garratt AM, Wardlaw D, Russell IT (1994) Developing a valid and reliable measure of health outcome for patients with low back pain. Spine 19:1887–1896
SUMMARY
Aberdeen low back pain disability scale is a patient-completed, disease-specific questionnaire to measure outcome in patients with low back pain. Its creators are from the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland. The scale includes 19 items of how the pain affects activities like self-care, walking, sitting, standing, sport, housework, resting, bending and sleep. Contains questions on analgesia, aggravating factors, distribution of symptoms and the effect of pain on function. The questions have different number of possible responses, and each responses have graded points ranging 0 to 5. Possible total score ranges from 0 to 100. Higher scores reflect poorer health. Can be administered by post.
Structure / Content
Question
Response
Pts
1.
In the past 2 weeks
how many days did you suffer pain in the back or leg(s)?
none
at all
0
between
1 and 5 days
1
between
6 and 10 days
2
for
more than 10 days
3
2.
On the worst day
during the past 2 weeks how many painkilling tablets did you take?
none
at all
0
less
than 4 tablets
1
between
4 and 8 tablets
2
between
9 and 12 tablets
3
more
than 12 tablets
4
3.
Is the pain made worse
by any of the following?
(Tick all that
apply)
coughing
+1
sneezing
+1
sitting
+1
standing
+1
bending
+1
walking
+1
4.
Do any of the
following movements ease the pain?
(Tick all that
apply)
lying
down
+1*
sitting
down
+1*
standing
+1*
walking
+1*
5.
In your right leg do
you have any pain in the following areas?
(Tick all that
apply)
pain
in the buttock
+1
pain
in the thigh
+1
pain
in the shin or calf
+1
pain
in the foot or ankle
+1
6.
In your left leg do you have any pain in the following areas?
(Tick all that
apply)
pain
in the buttock
+1
pain
in the thigh
+1
pain
in the shin or calf
+1
pain
in the foot or ankle
+1
7.
Do you have any loss of feeling in your legs?
no
0
yes
just one leg
1
yes
both legs
2
8.
In your right leg do you have any weakness or loss of power in the
following
areas?
(Tick all that
apply)
hip
+1
knee
+1
ankle
+1
foot
+1
9.
In your left leg do you have any weakness or loss of power in the
following
areas?
(Tick all that
apply)
hip
+1
knee
+1
ankle
+1
foot
+1
10.
If you were to try and bend forward without bending your knees how far
down do
you think you could bend before the pain stopped you?
I
could touch the floor.
0
I
could touch my ankles with the tips of my fingers.
1
I
could touch my knees with the tips of my fingers.
2
I
could touch my mid thighs with the tips of my fingers.
3
I
couldn't bend forward at all.
4
11.
On the worst night during the last 2 weeks how badly was your sleep
affected by
the pain?
not
affected at all
0
I
didn't lose any sleep but needed tablets
1
it
prevented me from sleeping but I slept for more than 4 hours
2
I
only had 2-4 hours of sleep
3
I
had less than 2 hours of sleep
4
12.
On the worst day during the last 2 weeks did the pain interfere with
your
ability to sit down?
I
was able to sit in any chair for as long as I liked
0
I
could only sit in my favorite chair as long as I liked
1
pain
prevented me from sitting more than 1 hour
2
pain
prevented me from sitting more than 30 minutes
3
pain
prevented me from sitting more than 15 minutes
4
pain
prevented me from sitting at all
5
13.
On the worst day during the last 2 weeks did the pain interfere with
your
ability to stand?
I
could stand as long as I wanted without extra pain
0
I
could stand as long as I wanted but it gave me extra pain
1
pain
prevented me from standing more than 1 hour
2
pain
prevented me from standing more than 30 minutes
3
pain
prevented me from standing more than 15 minutes
4
pain
prevented me from standing at all
5
14.
On the worst day during the last 2 weeks did the pain interfere with
your
ability to walk?
pain
did not prevent me walking any distance
0
pain
prevents me walking more than 1 mile
1
pain
prevents me walking more than 1/2 mile
2
pain
prevents me walking more than 1/4 mile
3
I
can walk but less than 1/4 mile
4
I
was unable to walk at all
5
15.
In the last 2 weeks did the pain prevent you from carrying out your
work
housework and other daily activities?
no
not at all
0
I
could continue with my work but my work suffered
1
yes
for one day
2
yes
for 2-6 days
3
yes
for 7 days or more
4
16.
In the last 2 weeks for how many days have you had to stay in bed
because of
the pain?
none
at all
0
between
1 and 5 days
1
between
6 and 10 days
2
for
more than 10 days
3
17.
In the last 2 weeks has your sex life been affected by your pain?
not
affected by the pain
0
mildly
affected by the pain
1
moderately
affected by the pain
2
pain
prevents any sex life at all
3
does
not apply
4
18.
In the last 2 weeks have your leisure activities been affected by your
pain?
not
affected by the pain
0
mildly
affected by the pain
1
moderately
affected by the pain
2
severely
affected by the pain
3
pain
prevents any social life at all
4
19.
In the last 2 weeks has the pain interfered with your ability to look
after
yourself (e.g. washing dressing etc.)
not
at all
0
because
of the pain I needed some help looking after myself
1
because
of the pain I needed a lot of help looking after myself
2
because
of the pain I could not look after myself at all
3
*Scoring has some debate on this item.
Scoring Method
Total number of points = SUM (points for all questions answered)
Back pain severity score = [SUM (points for all questions answered) / SUM (maximum possible points for questions answered)] * 100
Debate on the scoring method:
• The point assignment for actions that relieve the pain is questionable:
Question 4 (Do any of the following movements ease the pain?). According to the original text it is scored as +1 for each activity. But it would be more logical that the pain is worse if no activity relieves the pain. So it can be scored it as [4 – (number of actions relieving the pain)].
Interpretation
• Minimum - maximum back pain severity scale: 0 - 100%
• The higher the score the greater the severity of the back pain.
Validity / Reliability / Predictive Ability
The Aberdeen low back pain disability scale is considered reliable (Mülller et al) and well validated and thus recommended for use without further validation studies (Grotle et al).
Time to do (in minutes)
Not stated. Estimate approximately 20.
Training
None.
Equipment
None.
Cost
Nil.
Distribution
Measure can be found in the original article.
An unofficial online form of the Aberdeen low back pain disability scale can be found at here.
Development
Versions
Extended version: to extent the use of the Aberdeen low back pain disability scale for other regions of spine (other than low back).
Translations
German translation
of entended
version of the Aberdeen low back pain disability scale is available.
Frequency of Use
Not commonly used.
References
Müller U, Duetz MS, Roeder C, Greenough CG (2004a) Condition-specific outcome measures for low back pain. Part I: validation. Eur Spine J 13:301–313.
Grotle M, Brox
JI, Vollestad NK (2005) Functional status and disability
questionnaires: what do they assess? A systematic review of
back-specific outcome questionnaires. Spine 30:130–140
Ruta DA, Garratt AM, Wardlaw
D, Russell IT (1994) Developing a valid and reliable measure of health
outcome for patients with low back pain. Spine 19:1887–1896
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