Screening for yellow flags in first-time acute low back pain: reliability and validity of a Norwegian version of the Acute Low Back Pain Screening Questionnaire.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and construct and predictive validity of the Norwegian version of the Acute Low Back Pain Screening Questionnnaire (ALBPSQ). METHODS: A prospective study with a 12-month follow-up was conducted on 123 patients with acute low back pain (LBP) seeking help in primary health care for the first time and 50 patients with chronic LBP for more than 3 months. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability was high with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.90, minimal detectable change of 12 points (of a total score of 210), and coefficient of variation of 4%. Internal consistency was 0.95. Principal-components analysis revealed 3 factors explaining 49% of the variance. The ALBPSQ score correlated highly (r> or =0.60) with disability variables, moderately (0.30