Predicting chronicity in acute back pain: validation of a French translation of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire

Objective: To establish the predictive validity of a French translation of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (OMPSQ), a screening tool assessing the risk of chronicity in patients with back pain.

Methods: Prospective follow-up study. Assessment was performed at inclusion and 6 months later with the OMPSQ and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Four outcome variables (pain index, two functional variables and work absence) were defined.

Results: Ninety-one patients were included, of whom 80% completed the study. Depending on the outcome variable considered, 42 to 82% of the patients recovered within 6 months. ROC AUC, a global measure of the performance of the questionnaire integrating sensitivity and specificity data, ranged from 0.73 to 0.83. When considering the functional outcome variable derived from the ODI, a low cut-off score of 71 (corresponding to 80% sensitivity) and a high cut-off score of 106 (corresponding to 80% specificity) can be used to distinguish three groups of patients: low, intermediate and high risk of chronicity.

Conclusion: The predictive value of the French version of the OMPSQ is reasonably good, in line with the studies in other languages. This questionnaire may be particularly valuable in secondary care settings.