A Comparison of Five Low Back Disability Questionnaires: Reliability and Responsiveness

Global Change Scale	Oswestry Disability Questionnaire⁸^,⁹	Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale¹⁰	Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire¹¹	Waddell Disability Index¹²	SF-36 Physical Functioning Scale	SF-36 Role Limitations-Physical Scale	SF-36 Bodily Pain Scale
Completely gone (r=6)	33	30	38	25	9	7	4	3	−38	32	−58	38	−46	26
Much better (n=26)	16	16	19	25	7	6	2	3	−16	19	−42	48	−31	27
Better (n=20)	9	13	11	14	3	5	1	2	−15	25	−26	47	−14	26
A little better (n=28)	3	10	2	11	0	4	0	1.6	−2.5	13	−6	41	−12	22
About the same (n=16)	0	7	0.3	11	1	7	−1	1.6	5	10	1.6	28	−5	17
A little worse (n=3)	−6	6	−6	8	0	7	0	1	7	13	17	29	4	21
Much worse (n=2)	−4	17	−8	18	−2	2	−1	2	7.5	11	−13	18	10	15

Global Change Scale	Oswestry Disability Questionnaire⁸^,⁹	Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale¹⁰	Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire¹¹	Waddell Disability Index¹²	SF-36 Physical Functioning Scale	SF-36 Role Limitations-Physical Scale	SF-36 Bodily Pain Scale
Completely gone (r=6)	33	30	38	25	9	7	4	3	−38	32	−58	38	−46	26
Much better (n=26)	16	16	19	25	7	6	2	3	−16	19	−42	48	−31	27
Better (n=20)	9	13	11	14	3	5	1	2	−15	25	−26	47	−14	26
A little better (n=28)	3	10	2	11	0	4	0	1.6	−2.5	13	−6	41	−12	22
About the same (n=16)	0	7	0.3	11	1	7	−1	1.6	5	10	1.6	28	−5	17
A little worse (n=3)	−6	6	−6	8	0	7	0	1	7	13	17	29	4	21
Much worse (n=2)	−4	17	−8	18	−2	2	−1	2	7.5	11	−13	18	10	15

Table 2.

Self-Rated Change in Questionnaire Scores (n=101)^a

Global Change Scale	Oswestry Disability Questionnaire⁸^,⁹		Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale¹⁰		Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire¹¹		Waddell Disability Index¹²		SF-36 Physical Functioning Scale		SF-36 Role Limitations-Physical Scale		SF-36 Bodily Pain Scale
Global Change Scale	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD
Completely gone (r=6)	33	30	38	25	9	7	4	3	−38	32	−58	38	−46	26
Much better (n=26)	16	16	19	25	7	6	2	3	−16	19	−42	48	−31	27
Better (n=20)	9	13	11	14	3	5	1	2	−15	25	−26	47	−14	26
A little better (n=28)	3	10	2	11	0	4	0	1.6	−2.5	13	−6	41	−12	22
About the same (n=16)	0	7	0.3	11	1	7	−1	1.6	5	10	1.6	28	−5	17
A little worse (n=3)	−6	6	−6	8	0	7	0	1	7	13	17	29	4	21
Much worse (n=2)	−4	17	−8	18	−2	2	−1	2	7.5	11	−13	18	10	15

Global Change Scale	Oswestry Disability Questionnaire⁸^,⁹		Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale¹⁰		Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire¹¹		Waddell Disability Index¹²		SF-36 Physical Functioning Scale		SF-36 Role Limitations-Physical Scale		SF-36 Bodily Pain Scale
Global Change Scale	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD	X̅	SD
Completely gone (r=6)	33	30	38	25	9	7	4	3	−38	32	−58	38	−46	26
Much better (n=26)	16	16	19	25	7	6	2	3	−16	19	−42	48	−31	27
Better (n=20)	9	13	11	14	3	5	1	2	−15	25	−26	47	−14	26
A little better (n=28)	3	10	2	11	0	4	0	1.6	−2.5	13	−6	41	−12	22
About the same (n=16)	0	7	0.3	11	1	7	−1	1.6	5	10	1.6	28	−5	17
A little worse (n=3)	−6	6	−6	8	0	7	0	1	7	13	17	29	4	21
Much worse (n=2)	−4	17	−8	18	−2	2	−1	2	7.5	11	−13	18	10	15

SF-36=Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.13,14 Positive scores reflect improvement, except for the SF-36 for which negative scores indicate improvement. All scales scored 0–100, except Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (0–24) and Waddell Disability Index (0–9).

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