Reproducibility and content validity of the Slovenian version of the STarT Back Screening Tool for chronicity risk assessment in patients with low back pain

Abstract

Chronic pain is the most common cause of impaired work ability and thus represents a significant social and economic burden. STarT Back Screening Tool (SBT) is the most often used screening tool for rapid identification and classification of patients for their risk of development of chronic low back pain, which is valid and reliable in the original English version and translation into other languages. The aim of the present study was to translate the SBT into Slovenian and to evaluate its content validity and reliability. We translated the SBT from English into Slovenian and back according to the standard protocol. We tested its metric properties on a group of patients with low back pain aged 18 to 65 years. The reliability of the reassessment was calculated using the ICC and specific agreement, while the content validity of the questionnaire was determined using the ceiling and floor effect. Of the 42 patients who participated in the study, 42.9% were at low risk, 33.3% were at moderate risk, and 23.8% were at high risk of developing chronic pain, according to the SBT. The ICC for the entire sample was 0.96 (95% CI 0.92–0.98). The Slovenian translation of the SBT showed excellent specific agreement between the initial and repeat assessments: 91.4% for the low-risk group, 85.7% for the moderate-risk group, and 95.2% for the high-risk group. In addition, it showed good content validity, as no ceiling or floor effects were detected. The Slovenian translation of the questionnaire is suitable for clinical use.